It’s entirely possible the Montreal Canadiens are done for the offseason. They’ve re-signed all their remaining restricted free agents, addressed their needs on defense that resulted from David Savard’s retirement and fortified their forward group, leaving only one apparent hole in the line-up, at centre on Line 2, that a returning and hopefully healthy Kirby Dach may even potentially fill.
Even so, maybe general manager Kent Hughes isn’t satisfied. He’s still got a month and a half before training camp to make additional moves, with two relatively large offseason trades already in the books (Noah Dobson, Zachary Bolduc). If so, who else could be headed in the other direction? Here are the Canadiens’ top trade chips heading into 2025-26:
5) Carey Price
The Canadiens have long since been rumored to be trading Carey Price’s contract, as it would afford them more flexibility. They can always put his deal on long-term injured reserve, as they have in the past, giving them access to that cap space, but it would leave them susceptible to overage fines resulting from performance bonuses. So, they ideally trade the contract, which could be attractive to a team looking to stay above the cap floor.
As Price’s deal is entering its last year and his performance bonus will be due on Sep. 1, leaving just a $2 million base salary largely covered by insurance, it’s at least more likely a deal gets done than in past years. However, even though Hughes once successfully parlayed Shea Weber’s deal into Evgeny Dadonov under similar circumstances, it’s easy to envision Hughes simply being happy with getting rid of the deal and not getting much if anything in exchange. That’s why Price gets Spot No. 5 despite the name recognition.
4) Patrik Laine
In a similar way, Patrik Laine probably wouldn’t fetch the Canadiens a lot based on his $8.7 million cap hit. However, by virtue of the fact he’s an active NHLer, he places higher than Price here. On one hand, whatever the Habs get for him, assuming they go that route, it would be a win, especially since they didn’t give up much to get him in the first place (Jordan Harris, with a second-round pick also coming back). If you look at it from the angle that Laine was ineffective at even strength last season and there’s a good chance he plays bottom-six minutes, it could be perceived as the correct course of action.
However, looking at it from a cold, hard, logical perspective, Laine is valuable. Despite playing just 52 games because of a knee injury that realistically impacted his mobility (at even strength), he led the team in power-play goals (15). From the point at which he debuted, when the Canadiens were in the Eastern Conference basement, he helped lead a resurgent Habs squad to a 32-18-8 record and playoff spot. He may have vocal detractors in the fanbase and media, who suggest he has the capability to be a cancer, but there should be no denying the Habs played their best hockey with him in the lineup.
So, trading him, while a possibility, shouldn’t become a reality. It would be different if the Canadiens weren’t anticipating a playoff season, seeing as he’s a pending unrestricted free agent and they would otherwise conceivably lose him for nothing. As proven by the performance of the team with him in the lineup, they have far more to gain keeping him.
3) Josh Anderson
It’s odd to suggest the same could be true for Josh Anderson, considering the widespread regrets over the Canadiens failing to trade him when his value was still relatively high prior to a dismal nine-goal, 20-point 2023-24 season. What a difference a year and a shift in the lineup makes.
In 2024-25, Anderson got relegated to an exclusively bottom-six role, instead of the team having tried over and over again to fit his square peg in a top-six, round hole. While his modest seven-point uptick in production isn’t overly impressive, his overall effectiveness improved significantly, to the point it’s hard to believe once again the Canadiens would trade him, given the opportunity.
However, if they are in fact presented with the right opportunity, a trade could make sense. Obviously, Anderson displays a unique combination of size and speed. He creates space for linemates and, on a team that many critics believe could use more grit following a five-game first-round defeat to the Washington Capitals, trading Anderson could be construed as blasphemy.
These are the facts, though: The Canadiens outhit the Capitals in the series, despite any suggestions they had been run out of the building(s). They signed the 6-foot-2 Samuel Blais (206 pounds), realistically to directly address those suggestions. That a player like Blais would be available for minimum wage goes to show that bottom-six forwards aren’t exactly hard to come by. Some get overvalued, though.
Anderson may have a hard-to-come-by skillset. However, everyone should be on board with how he’s only effective in a bottom-six role by now. The Canadiens should try their best to objectively weigh that against his $5.5 million cap hit (for two more seasons), especially now that he has value on the trade market once again (along with his admitted modified no-trade clause). Everything taken into account, the Habs could probably find a taker if they wanted… but they probably don’t.
2) Owen Beck
It’s not that Owen Beck is on the outs with the organization. By all accounts, he still figures heavily in their future plans. Logically, he simply makes for the highest-profile prospect a trade partner would want and with whom the Canadiens would theoretically be able to part.
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Consider how Beck projects as a bottom-six forward by general consensus, as he always has. It’s not like he’s begun downtrending upon turning pro. That’s what he was drafted as and, if anything, his performance over the last few years has further confirmed expectations as being realistic.
In that sense, compared to a Joshua Roy, who has disappointed recently resulting in his stock falling, or a David Reinbacher, who is coming off a serious knee injury, Beck could be a relatively sought-after asset. Once you take into account how Hughes arguably signed free agents this offseason beyond the team’s means to accommodate roster spots for everyone (including Beck), including him a trade becomes a possibility, even if the Canadiens probably still hold him in high esteem.
1) Mike Matheson
Like Laine above, defenseman Mike Matheson is a pending UFA. He’s also proven himself to be valuable, having scored a career-high 62 points in 2023-24. Even with that production having been halved this past season with the emergence of Lane Hutson, he is an above-average producer on defense. What’s key here is, similarly based on Hutson’s emergence and the offseason acquisition of Noah Dobson, it’s possible Matheson only plays on the team’s third pairing, making him relatively expendable to the Canadiens.
Add it all up, and he’s a huge trade chip.
Take it a step further: At just 31 at a low $4.875 million cap hit, Matheson should be a, if not the, top target of teams looking for a mobile, offensively capable defenseman. It just remains to be seen if the Canadiens choose to dangle him. A defense featuring a minute-munching Matheson, who led them in ice time last year, on the third pairing must also be a tempting proposition.
To reiterate, the Canadiens have their eyes on a playoff finish and a general need for veteran leadership as the youngest team in the league. Matheson could come in handy… just more in handy than a bona-fide No. 2 centre, for whom he could conceivably be traded as part of a larger package? It remains to be seen.
