Habs trade deadline recap, host Subban & the Preds tonight (Habs)

Habs

Habs trade deadline recap, host Subban & the Preds tonight

By Jennifer B Cutler

Mar 2, 2017 • 12:32 pm

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Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin was active on the NHL trade deadline day but to the chagrin of some fans he was unable to acquire a forward capable of playing in the top six and contributing on offense. Instead Bergevin focused on making the Canadiens bigger and tougher as well as making sure that he was able to receive something in return for players that were no longer part of the team’s future. Following his earlier moves, on Wednesday he traded a fourth round pick to the Los Angeles Kings for forward Dwight King and dealt Sven Andrighetto to the Colorado Avalanche in return for fourth line forward Andreas Martinsen.

To recap all of Bergevin’s moves within the past four days:

In:

Jordie Benn Brandon Davidson Steve Ott Dwight King Andreas Martinsen

Out:

Greg Pateryn David Desharnais Sven Andrighetto 2017 4th round draft pick 2018 Conditional 4th round draft pick 2018 6th round draft pick

Are the Canadiens a better team today than they were yesterday? While they were unable to address their need for help scoring, Benn and King are the two new Canadiens that are instantly able to improve the team whereas Pateryn, Desharnais and Andrighetto have all been on the outside looking in this season and not able to consistently crack the lineup. Essentially, the trio had all been surpassed on the Canadiens depth chart.

Benn and King should be regulars in the Canadiens lineup while Ott and Martinsen will likely rotate in and out of the fourth line. Against the Blue Jackets on Tuesday, Benn was able to stabilize the defense and played quite well with Nathan Beaulieu on the third pairing while stepping up to play first penalty kill unit minutes with Shea Weber, alleviating Andrei Markov’s workload. King brings two Stanley Cup rings with him to Montreal and so his playoff experiences will certainly be beneficial to the Canadiens. While he is certainly not known for his offense, he is able to step up his game in the Springtime as he had eleven points in 26 games en route to the 2014 Kings Stanley Cup win. At 6’4… and 229 pounds, King is a strong and tough player to play against.

There is no longer a roster limit and so the Canadiens are able to carry all 25 players as long as they remain under the salary cap. Yesterday was also the AHL’s deadline to declare players for the Calder Cup playoffs and interestingly Michael McCarron’s papers were not filed and so he is ineligible to compete for the St. John’s Ice Caps should they make the postseason. In other words it appears as though that McCarron is in Montreal to stay. Even with the trio of new big forwards, McCarron is still getting the first opportunity to prove himself and remain in the lineup. The Canadiens lines at practice Thursday morning were:

When the Canadiens acquired Davidson on Tuesday night, it appeared as though perhaps there was another move in the pipeline as the team is now carrying eight defensemen, five of which are left-handed. As 3pm Wednesday passed and Beaulieu and Alexei Emelin remained part of the organization, it appears as though Bergevin simply felt the need to acquire more depth in the backend as he often says that a team can never have enough defensemen. While it may be difficult for Davidson or the previously acquired Nikita Nesterov to crack the lineup, I would argue that the defenseman who may be in the most trouble is not Beaulieu but Emelin. His play has consistently been going the wrong way throughout the last month whereas Beaulieu has seemingly worked hard over the past three games to get back on track. If Emelin continues to trend downwards, I would not be surprised if he were to be the first one to sit, barring an injury of course.

As for Bergevin being unable to trade for a scoring forward, it is hard to fault him as the pickings were quite slim this year and the asking price higher than what Bergevin was willing to give up. It is more likely that he will be able to make a move as the expansion and NHL drafts near in June, when more hockey deals occur involving players of a higher caliber. For now, Bergevin has Charles Hudon and Chris Terry who are producing with the Ice Caps and if the Canadiens continue to have difficulty with secondary scoring, it should only be a matter of time until they are given a real opportunity. In his press conference on Wednesday, Bergevin alluded to the play and development of Hudon being one of the reasons why he decided to let go of Andrighetto.

Tonight’s Canadiens matchup against the Nashville Predators marks the return of former defenseman P.K. Subban to Montreal. It has been a lovefest for him from the moment that he returned and was honoured at the Montreal Children’s Hospital on Wednesday with the Governor-General’s Meritorious Service Decoration for his charitable work. The Canadiens have announced that they will recognize his years and contributions to the team with a tribute that will start at 7:34pm, just before the puck will drop.

The Predators lineup should be:

While many are anxious to revisit “The Trade… and declare a winner, it is still much too early to do so. Yes, Weber started out of the gate this season as hot as can be with 18 points in his first 22 games, Subban has come on particularly strong in February now that he is healthy recording 12 points in the month. Perhaps this trade should only be measured in Stanley Cups and only time will tell for that. It is possible that the trade has and will be good for both teams.

Weber though being the leader and class act that he is, did not want any of the attention with his old team in town, preferring the focus being on his new teammates:

Subban tribute is at 7:34pm, anthems and puck drop will follow shortly thereafter.

Cheers and follow along!

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