Habs have list of players they want to move
The Montreal Canadiens gained League-wide attention last week when they made the first big trade of this second half of the season, sending sniper Tyler Toffoli to the Calgary Flames. In return, the Habs received Swedish prospect Emil Heinemann, a 2022 first-round pick (top-10 protected), a 2023 fifth-round selection and winger Tyler Pitlick.
This morning, GM Kent Hughes held a press conference and spoke about potential next moves for the team. Ben Chiarot's name has been at or very near the top of TSN's Trade Bait List for most of the season, but now some new names have emerged according to the network's Darren Dreger:
Of the players Dreger mentions, Drouin carries the largest salary, at $5.5M AAV through 2022-2023.
https://www.capfriendly.com/players/jonathan-drouin
Hoffman's always been able to put the puck in the net, but he has a history of being a distraction and at 32-years old, his $4.5M AAV through 2023-2024 might limit the list of potential suitors.
https://www.capfriendly.com/players/mike-hoffman
Like Drouin, Christian Dvorak is currently on injured reserve, which might scare some teams away. That, and the fact that whoever might acquire Dvorak has to be prepared to be married to his $4.45M AAV for the remainder of this season and three more. Nonetheless, he's scored 15 goals or more in four of his six NHL seasons and goal scorers get paid.
Perhaps the easiest of the aforementioned group for Hughes to move will be Lehkonen. He's just 26 and in the last year of his contract, makes $2.3M, can play either wing and is a responsible defensive player and penalty killer.
It will certainly be interesting to see how the rest of the season and the start of this rebuild unfolds for the Canadiens, but out of today's presser one thing is certain: the Toffoli trade was just the beginning of business and the Habs have plenty more moves to make.
