As we officially start the final week of July, things have become fairly quiet around the National Hockey League. General Managers and other front office staff have begun taking vacation time after a long season and with an expanded regular season on the horizon, which in turn means an earlier start to the new campaign, they're trying to get the much out of their summers as they can.
With that being said, there's still some business to attend to as several clubs in the league have restricted free agents they need to lock up before training camps get underway in the middle of September. Entering Monday, the Montreal Canadiens had four players they needed to sign, according to PuckPedia, and among them was 24-year-old winger Sean Farrell.
Farrell is coming off his best season since making the jump to professional hockey and as he looks to take another step in his career, he'll be doing so in another organization.
Montreal Canadiens trade restricted free agent forward Sean Farrell
In an article on the team's website on Monday afternoon, the Montreal Canadiens announced that they've traded Sean Farrell to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for fellow restricted free agent forward Sasha Pastujov, who is also coming off a career-year in 2025-26.
"Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes announced on Monday that the team has acquired forward Sasha Pastujov from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for forward Sean Farrell." the Canadiens said in their press release.
Farrell, a native of Milton, Massachusetts, was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the fourth round (124th overall) back in 2020. After two years at Harvard University, Farrell made the jump to professional hockey at the end of the 2022-23 campaign, suiting up in six games for the Canadiens.
That would be the only action Farrell would see in the National Hockey League, thus far. For the entirety of the last three seasons, Farrell has played for the Canadiens' American Hockey League affiliate, the Laval Rocket, registering 125 points (46 goals, 79 assists) in 186 games.
Despite his career year last season, Farrell has been surpassed on the Canadiens' depth chart and there wasn't a clear path to the National Hockey League for him in Montreal. With who the Canadiens have on their roster right now, depth-wise, and who could be on the way towards the end of the regular season in April - Michael Hage and Alexander Zharovsky - Farrell was staring down yet another full year in Laval, something he probably wasn't looking forward to, given he's turning 25 in early November.
In Anaheim, Farrell should have the opportunity to get into some games with the Ducks. Barring any injuries in training camp, Farrell will likely start the year with Anaheim's American Hockey League affiliate, the San Diego Gulls, but there's a better path to the NHL this coming season with the Ducks than there would be in Montreal.
Sasha Pastujov heads to the Montreal Canadiens
As mentioned, the return in the Sean Farrell trade is American forward Sasha Pastujov, who many believed 12 months out from his draft year in 2021 that he has the skills to be a first round pick.
Unfortunately for Pastujov, there were areas of his game that didn't entirely thrill scouts in his draft year with the US National Team Development Program and it mainly came down to his skating. The Anaheim Ducks ultimately landed Pastujov with their third round pick (66th overall) in 2021.
The Bradenton, Florida native was expected to go to Notre Dame in 2021, but decommitted in order to play in the Ontario Hockey League. After two years in the OHL, where he had 174 points in 125 games with the Guelph Storm and Sarnia Sting, Pastujov made the jump to professional hockey with the Ducks organization.
Pastujov has spent the majority of the last three seasons with the AHL's San Diego Gulls, but also suited up in 12 games for their ECHL affiliate, the Tulsa Oilers, during the 2024-25 season. His production had jumped each of the last three seasons and in 2025-26, put up 21 goals & 57 points in 71 games.
With the Montreal Canadiens, Pastujov is probably going to start the year with the Laval Rocket, but could eventually make his National Hockey League debut at some point. It's a long season and injuries happen, as we all know, so there's a chance we'll see the 23-year-old down the line this year.
At the end of the day, there's two reasons why this trade happened. Number one, there wasn't a path to the NHL in Montreal for Farrell and he was likely going to top out as an top-six AHLer in the Canadiens organization. Number two, Pastujov has a higher offensive ceiling than Farrell and could make an impact, albeit depth-wise in a bottom-six role, in the years to come.