Oilers and Penguins Eyeing Canadiens Forward

The Montreal Canadiens currently sit 10 points out of the final Eastern Conference wild card position. Talk has been rampant that GM Marc Bergevin is starting to work the phones to see what the price is not only on the teams pending free agents, but also for some players with term left after this year.

TSN's Pierre LeBrun has reported that the Habs are listening to offers for defenseman Jeff Petry and forwards Tomas Tatar and Ilya Kovalchuk. The Canadiens are supposedly looking for draft picks in the upcoming draft, the 2020 draft is considered to be a deep draft and 2nd and 3rd round picks carry more value leading into this years trade deadline. 

TSN reported that there are a few teams that would be interested in all three Hab veterans. It appears that Tomas Tatar is a target of both the Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers have been looking to fill out their top-six forwards all season. The Penguins have been looking for someone to replace injured all-star Jake Guentzel and GM Jim Rutherford has a talent for pulling off trades that boost his team each year around the deadline. 

Tatar has one year after this at $5.3 million. The price to acquire him is thought to be a 2nd round pick and prospect. The Penguins could offer a 2nd along with defenseman Jusso Riikola or maybe convince the Habs to take back Alex Galchenyuk? The Oilers have been reported to be shopping their 2nd rounder for quite some time. GM Ken Holland is familiar with Tatar, having drafted him while he was GM in Detroit. The Oilers would probably offer Jesse Puljujarvi and their 2nd. The Oilers would have to make another move to fit Tatar under the cap this season, they have plenty of cash coming off the books after this year and would have no problem fitting Tatar in for next season. 

Will there be a bidding war for Montreal's assets?