Canadiens Could Trade From Position Of Strength For Center

The Montreal Canadiens desperately need a second line center if they are going to have a chance to compete for the Stanley Cup, which is the goal of a team that finally got back into the playoffs last season and made upgrades in the offseason. Doing that will likely take something off the roster.

Frank Seravalli said, "Long-term plan is going to be a bit harder to sort out. That is certainly a topic of concern...for the Habs' front office, and potentially might involve trading from a position of strength on the blueline."

The Canadiens already made a trade to acquire a young forward, Zack Bolduc, in the offseason from the St. Louis Blues in order to hurt the log jam on defense, by trading Logan Mailloux. But the Canadiens have Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook, and Patrik Laine (not a center) on the injured reserve and out significant time. While Kaiden Guhle is injured, the defensive options for Montreal are still better than what they have at forward.

For the Canadiens, they can recover from not having Guhle for the time being with Mike Matheson, Lane Hutson, Noah Dobson, and Alexandre Carrier as the top-4 defensemen. Oliver Kapanen, a rookie, has had to be the second line center. And while he's done a better job than anyone could have expected with 10 goals and 16 points in 31 games, he's in a position that has to be upgraded this season if the team is to have a chance. This doesn't mean moving him off the team, just down the lineup or onto the wing.

So, who would the Canadiens trade to upgrade at center. Matheson, Hutson, Dobson, and Guhle are all signed through 2031 at the least, so I believe those four should stay put, but everyone else could be up for grabs, along with a higher draft pick to get something significant done, especially if it's a center signed for at least another year.

D-men that could be moved out to upgrade center is Arber Xhekaj, Jayden Struble, Adam Engstrom, or David Reinbacher. It depends who the Canadiens can target, but a move may not come until a little later in the season. On the other hand, two contenders have upgraded in the past two days, so it's better to be early than late.