3 Trades To Make Montreal Canadiens And New Jersey Devils Better

The Montreal Canadiens have so much draft capital this year that it makes all the sense in the world to trade back into the first round of the NHL Draft. The issue is since they ended up going to the Final, their own pick is near the end of every round. In the second round, they have their own pick and the pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning. For those asking at home, that means it’s the final two picks of the round. The third-round picks the Canadiens have are from the Washington Capitals (originally part of the Brendan Dillon trade with the Sharks) and Chicago Blackhawks (Andrew Shaw trade).

The Canadiens need high-end talent, so they will likely call Tom Fitzgerald on draft day to see how they can make a deal happen. The Devils will originally want NHL talent for their 1st-round pick, but getting a ton of draft capital in what is quickly becoming a strange draft talent wise makes a lot of sense. This draft is weaker than last year’s draft, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t talent in the later rounds. Especially with the lack of scouting due to the pandemic, there are going to be first-round talents that fall to the second and third rounds.

So, since the Canadiens are asking the Devils to trade back an entire round out of the first, they need to pay handsomely for that. Fitzgerald will demand both of the Canadiens’ second-round picks, plus the Chicago Blackhawks’ third rounder. So, instead of getting pick number 28 in the draft, they get picks number 63, 64, and 76. It’s a big drop, but adding in the Devils pick at 61 and they can own this specific part of the draft. There is value in that.