The Montreal Canadiens made some major headlines on Thursday, with news about a purported blockbuster trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs involving Matthew Knies.
Amid the hubbub, speculation about another potential blockbuster deal in the works with the New York Rangers, but it wasn’t for Vincent Trocheck.
According to insider Frank Servalli, the Habs and Rangers were working on a deal that would have sent Alexis Lafreniere to Montreal.
The chatter involving the Canadiens and Rangers at the deadline centered around Trocheck. Montreal was looking for a second-line center, and New York was willing to move Trocheck.
The situation, however, didn’t get very far. Now, there’s talk that the discussions could have involved Lafreniere, and not Trocheck.
As for the return, Servalli pointed to a first-round pick, a prospect, and Patrik Laine. So, one has to think that Laine was a cap dump from the Canadiens’ side to make Lafreniere’s cap hit fit. For the Rangers, Laine would have been a necessary evil for the remainder of the season. Since he’s set to become a UFA this summer, it really wouldn’t have cost the Blueshirts much.
The intriguing part is the prospect. If the prospect was the same one in play as in the Knies deal, the piece in question would have been Alexander Zharovsky. Also, the first-rounder in question would have been the Habs’ own pick. That pick is set at 28th overall after the Habs’ elimination at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final.
Lafreniere Made Sense for Canadiens
A great deal of the chatter revolving around the Canadiens was their search for a top-six winger. While the main talk had been about a center, the organization would have settled for a winger. Ideally, said winger would have played with Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki.
That situation made Lafreniere an ideal fit for the Habs. The club would have gotten a legit top-six winger with potential to truly bust out in Montreal. Given how Lafreniere hasn’t really lived up to his first-overall hype, talk has focused on the 24-year-old needing a fresh start.
He would have gotten that fresh start in Montreal. And the Canadiens would have been a much stronger team because of it.
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Habs Likely Started Talks with Lafreniere, Moved onto Knies
Given the way the rumor mill has moved on Thursday, it’s safe to assume the Canadiens first kicked the tires on Lafreniere. When those talks didn’t get very far, the club likely pivoted to Matthew Knies in Toronto.
According to the talk, the deal was awfully close before ultimately failing to get across the finish line at the trade deadline.
In fact, it wouldn’t be surprising to note that the Canadiens made the same offer to Toronto for Knies as they did to New York for Lafreniere. The Leafs didn’t take Laine back, but they extracted another piece in the deal, to go with two first-rounders.
The Habs would have been happy to bring in Knies, as that would have solved their most perceived need. It remains unclear whether the Canadiens would revisit this Lafreniere deal this summer. The belief is that the Habs will certainly circle back to Knies.
So, stay tuned.
Canadiens Had Blockbuster with Rangers, but Not for Trocheck