Canadiens Reportedly Have 2 Big Trade Pieces On The Table

The Montreal Canadiens are looking to take their next step after storming into the playoffs. Now that they have a taste and a number of their young players have developed nicely into impactful NHL players, they appear to want to use some of their other assets to get better quickly.

Chris Johnston reported that the Canadiens are open to trading one of their 2025 first-round draft picks and Logan Mailloux. This doesn't have to be in the same trade, but if it was, it would fetch a very good player with multiple years on his contract. Considering Mailloux is one of a number of solid young defensemen for the Canadiens, it isn't the worst move to dangle him as a trade piece. He is 22 and only got into seven games for Montreal because of the logjam on the back-end.

The other d-men who are 24 years old or younger on the Canadiens are Kaiden Guhle, Lane Hutson, Arber Xhekaj, Jayden Struble, and David Reinbacher. At a certain point, assets would have to be moved before losing value and Mailloux has a good amount of value right now as he's NHL ready.

The Canadiens have two draft picks in the first round around the middle of the draft. They have their own first-round pick and Calgary's. Montreal could use an upgrade at forward the most, and that is what one or possibly both tradeable assets will be used to acquire for the Canadiens to take their next step. It is only up from here for a team that has been waiting a while for a breakthrough.