The Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche are in two very different places this season. The former appears to be out of the playoff picture while the latter has serious aspirations of hoisting the Stanley Cup in June, so with the Trade Deadline approaching on February 24 , it wouldn’t be surprising to see the teams strike some sort of deal.
Right?
Well, even if that’s that case… Avs general manager Joe Sakic isn’t prepared to admit anything. Kind of. When asked about Habs GM Marc Bergevin being in Colorado for TWO games, Sakic suggested it was because his daughter goes to Colorado University… and then left with a grin.
Yeah, sure Joe! Whatever you say bud!!!!
The Canadiens currently have three players on TSN’s Trade Bait List. Ilya Kovalchuk, who’s found life with six goals and six assists in 20 games in red, blue and white, is set to become a UFA this summer and ranks sixth on the list, while pending UFA Nate Thompson ranks 42nd. Defenceman Jeff Petry on the other hand ranks 49th on the list and is signed at a reasonable $5.5 million per year through 2021. After losing Nazem Kadri and Mikko Rantanen for the foreseeable future, could the Avs make a move? Or try to upgrade their blue line?
Or after losing goaltender Phillipp Grubauer to a lower-body injury, could they have something bigger in mind?
The next few days are going to be interesting.
(H/T Ryan S. Clark)
