The Canadiens' sacrificed defenseman has now been identified
The Canadiens have a surplus on defense and a lack of forward depth, which gives Kent Hughes a relatively straightforward option, especially since the defensive prospects are very promising.
The general manager will, however, have a choice to make, as other teams are interested in the club's top prospects. Names like Justin Barron, Jayden Struble, and Joran Harris aren't enough; otherwise, a trade would have already been completed.
Simply put: to acquire a top-6 forward, teams want a member of the Canadiens' future top-4 defense, which includes Kaiden Guhle, David Reinbacher, Lane Hutson, and Logan Mailloux.
We got our answer today, as a trade was almost finalized at the draft, involving Trevor Zegras. The Canadiens were offering Logan Mailloux and the 21st overall pick for Trevor Zegras and a second-round pick.
This confirms that Max Truman was right when he mentioned a few weeks ago that the defenseman who would be sacrificed would be Mailloux.
- Via Marco Normandin's article
The reason for the trade falling through is unknown. We can speculate that Michael Hage being available at 21st overall might have played a role, but that's all.
If that is indeed the case, expect similar proposals to resurface. The Canadiens have the Panthers' first-round pick next year and many prospects to include with Mailloux to bring Zegras to Montreal.
| POLL | ||
If you had to trade a defenseman from the Canadiens, which one would you trade among the following four? | ||
| Kaiden Guhle | 28 | 12 % |
| Logan Mailloux | 104 | 44.6 % |
| David Reinbacher | 80 | 34.3 % |
| Lane Hutson | 21 | 9 % |
| List of polls | ||
