The Montreal Canadiens may be over .500 at the moment and rising up the standings a bit, but they will have a very tough time making the playoffs. Five teams still sit between them and the second wildcard spot. On top of that, they have only actually won five of their last 10 games. This team is around where they should be, maybe a bit higher. With the injuries and younger team, they weren’t expected to compete for a playoff spot just yet.
Over the course of the next two months we will see who the Canadiens really are. My expectations are that they will sink below .500 and not change the course of looking to sell off some pieces at the trade deadline. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period noted that the Canadiens could see interest in Sean Monahan, David Savard, and Christian Dvorak. Let’s look at this a bit deeper.
Sean Monahan
Sean Monahan has been a very nice piece for the Canadiens since they acquired him in the summer of 2022. What made this acquisition better is that it was a cap dump by the Calgary Flames and the Canadiens got a first rounder to take on a good piece. Monahan has done nothing but good things at both ends of the ice for the Canadiens with little expectations for him.
He had a strong and unexpected start to last season, but unfortunately got injured. This was while his cap hit was $6.375 million AAV. While the Canadiens would have retained half if they would have dealt him at last year’s trade deadline, this would still have been a higher cap hit than the team has to work with this season.
Monahan returned on a good one-year, $1.985 million AAV deal and looks to get a lot of attention. He is a two-way veteran that found his offensive game again in Montreal. He has been a strong piece mostly on the second line. After another very strong start to the season, he has scored nine goals and recorded 20 points in 33 games. The Canadiens are better when he is in the lineup, but he is also aging and will fetch them a nice return.
David Savard
The Canadiens have arguably the best young defensive group/prospect pool in the league. More players are going to start pushing for spots in the NHL, so players will have to be moved out. Savard has gotten a good deal of attention this season already and will very likely be moved. He is in the second-last year of his contract at $3.5 million AAV. As a shutdown defenceman that is well suited for the top-four, it is very understandable that there has been and will continue to be attention on him.
Savard has missed some games this season, only playing 11, but he also surprisingly has three goals and seven points. That offence is unsustainable from him, but his defensive play continues to be solid. As a right-shot defenceman that is very experienced, he checks a lot of boxes for teams and gives them an extra year. It isn’t likely he makes it past the trade deadline with the Canadiens.
Christian Dvorak
Dvorak is your prototypical third line centre and teams will be looking at him. He is a little overpaid, but that doesn’t stop certain teams if they are desperate at the trade deadline after missing out on their top targets. He too has missed some time, only playing 23 games this season, but that is normal for him. It has been difficult for him to play a full season.
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He is an eight-year veteran, but has only been a part of one playoff run for a total of nine games. That’s not to say he isn’t capable of performing in the playoffs, but of the three veterans the Canadiens could move, it won’t be that easy. If some cap is retained, that is different. Dvorak has a cap hit of $4.45 million AAV through next season, but is only 27 years old. He has some good elements to his game. Maybe it’s just time for a change of scenery. The Canadiens will want to open up a spot at forward for returning players next season and some younger talent.
