A significant portion of the Montreal Canadiens fan base will be upset about them beating the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night. The win won’t help the Habs do the unthinkable and make the playoffs, and it’ll do even less in helping their chances of landing Connor Bedard. Altogether, a bad night of hockey if you’re a denizen of tank nation.
But I must implore everyone to look on the bright side — with the trade deadline quickly approaching, we’re seeing some performances that could make Kent Hughes’s job very easy.
Not gaining any ground in the draft lottery department should be easier to stomach when players who stand to be potential trade bait heat up at the right time. How about the performances of Jonathan Drouin and Joel Armia, who connected on arguably the prettiest goal of the night?
“Trade me right fucking now”
– Joel Armia and Jonathan Drouin, simultaneously pic.twitter.com/JjGAxc7ApD
— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) February 15, 2023
These two may be among the tougher sells at the deadline, but their performance in that game could warrant some calls. At this point in the year, every team knows who is selling, and the Habs being clear sellers should have plenty of scouts from contending teams taking a peek to see what they’ve got. One of Armia or Drouin could sell themselves to another team with efforts like they put forth against Chicago.
You could bet good money that contending teams were looking at that game between two bottom feeders. Armia and Drouin won’t get the interest of a Patrick Kane, but if scouts were watching that particular contest, you could see how they might come out of it wondering why they’d pay top dollar for Kane when the former two could be had at a much lower price.
David Savard also found the score sheet, and has been playing very well over this short winning streak. A big, veteran defender with a Stanley Cup ring, who blocks a lot of shots, and just happens to be showing offensive acumen ahead of the deadline? That shouldn’t even be a tough sell. Kent Hughes is likely to be getting calls soon, if his phone isn’t already blowing up.
There is no guarantee that any of these players are moved, but that they’re performing well this close to the deadline is important. The Habs are a selling team to watch, and as the trade market heats up, teams who are in a position to go for a run will need to make decisions. These decisions, when made on a time crunch, can lead to excellent value for sellers in a seller’s market.
Sure, a win against the Blackhawks hurts the tank, but the performances therein could end up benefiting the rebuild in the long run. It’s a seller’s market, and Kent Hughes could leverage some of these performances into something.
Bottom Six Minutes!
I am once again appealing to tank nation to look on the bright side. As mentioned in the article above, we saw some performances from potential outgoing players that could facilitate trades benefiting the rebuild. It’s good news if I’m right about that.
Furthermore, the schedule is about to get more difficult. I’ve linked Apple and Spotify streams below, and I’d ask once again for you to subscribe on your preferred platform to follow along as we head full speed toward the trade deadline.
