Now that the dust has settled on the Erik Karlsson trade, it comes time to see what the Montreal Canadiens left with following their inclusion as a third party facilitator. There are a lot of moving parts inside this trade, with the Canadiens alone acquiring four pieces, while shipping two out.
It might be easiest to break this trade down into two separate grades, the first being for moving out the two veterans, and one for the quality of the newly arriving pieces. The Habs shed two players in this deal with wingers Rem Pitlick and Mike Hoffman heading out of Montreal, with no salary retained.
Departing players
Hoffman went to San Jose a few years after being traded there for a single day, and for many Canadiens fans this already made the trade a win. Hoffman came to the Canadiens in the 2021-2022 season with expectations that his shooting talent would help bolster the power play, but that did not happen. Hoffman never seemed to fit into any spot in the Canadiens lineup for long, leaving fans frustrated more often than not. At the end of his 134-game tenure, Hoffman had 69 points (29G, 40A) a huge drop off from his previous form, especially on the power play where he finish with just five goals.
Rem Pitlick, despite coming to the team as a waiver-wire pickup, became a fan favourite for his instant impact when he put together a heater for the Habs in 2021-22. After being claimed, Pitlick posted nine goals and 17 assists in 46 games for the last place Canadiens, earning him a short contract extension. His magic run lasted just the brief part of the season, and the following year he found himself sent to the Laval Rocket, or made a healthy scratch at times.
Both are now gone to new teams, with Hoffman joining the Sharks and Pitlick remaining with the Penguins in this deal. Opening up two forward spots is a big boost for the rebuild of the Canadiens. Neither Pitlick nor Hoffman was going to magically become more than what they are at this point in time. With Hoffman gone, a middle-six forward role has opened up for a player like Rafaël Harvey-Pinard or Jesse Ylönen, and Pitlick’s departure allows another prospect to come on as a bottom-six option.
Perhaps the biggest part of the moves is that Kent Hughes is retaining zero salary on either player; both contracts are totally off the books. By creating space for his younger players and not keeping any salary on the ledger, the Habs started this trade off on the right foot.
Departing players grade: A+
Arriving players
The Canadiens added three bodies and one draft pick in their haul for facilitating the trade between the Penguins and Sharks. The biggest name, Jeff Petry returns to the Canadiens a year after being traded to Pittsburgh with Ryan Poehling for Mike Matheson.
Matheson was a huge hit with Habs fans when he finally entered the lineup and fit into the team seamlessly, while Poehling failed to make an impact before not being qualified by the Pens and signing with the Philadelphia Flyers. Petry put up decent offensive numbers, with five goals and 26 assists in 61 games for the Penguins ,but never really asserted himself as a viable piece to take some pressure off of Kris Letang.
Things get a bit complicated from here as Petry was granted his trade out of Montreal following the end of the 2022 season as Hughes wanted to do right by the veteran player. Petry, however, did not include Montreal on his no-trade list, meaning he is right back in the city following a slightly acrimonious exit a year ago.
From a lineup point of view, the spot for Petry is currently held by David Savard, unless he gets moved or if the Canadiens are planning on sending some of their young NHL regulars to the AHL. Based on the fact they traded two forwards to open space for young players, the latter idea seems far-fetched. It seems very likely that Petry will be flipped to another team from here, and it would be shocking to see him suit up for the Canadiens again.
Luckily for the Habs, the Penguins are already retaining 25% of Petry’s contract now, making him a far more palatable option for some clubs, especially if Montreal retains a bit of his contract as well.
Time will tell on this, but it seems like the Habs are going to end up getting an asset (a 2025 second-round pick) for taking on Jeff Petry, and also for eventually trading him once again.
Adding Casey DeSmith is a head-scratching case in this deal, as DeSmith had a similar season to incumbent Samuel Montembeault, and is also five years older than the Habs’ current starting goalie. There is also the return of Jake Allen, and Cayden Primeau lingering around in training camp now that he requires waivers for the AHL.
That means there are four goaltenders battling for two spots, one of which can safely be assumed to belong to Montembeault at this point This portion of the trade smells of another move coming in short order, as there are too many bodies in the goaltending line. Even if Primeau goes on waivers that’s three goalies at the NHL level.
Unlike the Jeff Petry deal which might happen sooner rather than later, the potential trading of a goalie might wait until teams analyze their own goaltending depth heading into the pre-season. That includes the Canadiens as well, who may want to see if Jake Allen can bounce back from his injury-filled season.
Finally, the team added 22-year-old Montreal-born winger Nathan Légaré. Coming out of his second full season of professional hockey with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, he is looking to find his footing after two tough years in the AHL. Drafted in the third round in 2019, he was a physically gifted goal-scorer in the QMJHL who had skating deficiencies that threatened to hold back his development.
With the Laval Rocket, his physical side will be welcomed by J.-F. Houle and his staff, but they should be hoping to unlock some of his goal-scoring talent. Legaré will be playing on a team that has some solid veterans and other young stars with the Rocket, and is low-risk, moderate-reward type addition.
His inclusion is a nice bit of prospect depth for the Canadiens, and especially for the Rocket. Laval lost a few big names in free agency, and are graduating two others to the NHL level. If Nathan Legaré can find his footing with the Rocket and present himself as a true NHL prospect again, it’s a huge win for the Habs. If he doesn’t, it isn’t the end of the world by any means.
Arriving players grade: B+
Conclusion
That grade can change depending on any follow-up moves the Habs do or don’t make this off-season. Overall, however, Hughes shed two unnecessary contracts that opened up space for younger players, without retaining any salary. He added a younger prospect looking for a fresh start, added another option in a thin goaltending pipeline, and an easily movable right-shot defenceman without giving up anything of note.
It’s a strong bit of a work for a general manager of a team acting as a third party facilitator. While the Penguins are clear winners based on what they added and lost, the Canadiens come away from this trade big winners themselves in what has been a pretty strong off-season for Hughes and co.
