The Montreal Canadiens have traded defenseman and assistant captain Hal Gill to the Nashville Predators, with a conditional 5th round pick (2013) for a 2nd round pick (2012), and forwards Blake Geoffrion and Robert Slaney.
Slaney is an ECHL left winger and is likely just depth for Hamilton. The meat of the deal is Gill and a conditional 5th for a 2nd and Geoffrion.
Going into the deadline I figured Gill’s worth, based on historical returns for a player like him, was approximately a 2nd rounder plus an asset. This deal is approximately that. 2nd rounder from Nashville figures to be 50th-55th come draft day. A place with about a 30% chance for a decent NHL player (probably better if your head scout is Trevor Timmins).
Geoffrion is a scion of a noble Habs family, the great-grandson of Howie Morenz and grandson of “Boom Boom” Geoffrion. His father Daniel, played 30 games for the Canadiens in the 1979-80 season.
He was a star NCAA LW but at 23 years old has yet to really break out as a professional; his best performance being his 37 points in 45 games as 22 year old in the AHL last year. He’s played as a depth guy in Nashville and a good AHL forward in Milwaukee this season. As a prospect you could say he is somewhat below but not that far from the level that Aaron Palushaj is at. He does help shore up LW prospect depth, which is a bit of a weak area in Montreal’s system.
The condition of the 5th round pick is whether Geoffrion plays 40 games in the NHL next season. If he does he’s probably worth a 5th rounder (which isn’t worth much).
The Hamilton Bulldogs have confirmed that Geoffrion will report to the team on Saturday.
More analysis from the EOTP team to follow.
How good of a return for Hal Gill?
| Excellent | 96 |
| Good | 153 |
| Meh | 56 |
| Bad | 12 |
| Terrible | 10 |
