Habs clean house and go deep in the 2023 draft, with an eye to being in the lottery again in 2024 (and maybe 2025).
Rationale behind trades:
1) Pittsburgh has narrow window to cash in on Crosby and Malkin. Dvorak offers a solid two-way middle-6 forward at just over $2M and Harris solidifies an aging D corps and helps with future rebuild.
2) Seattle gets Anderson, a strong, fast, hard-hitting RW for four years at $4M. Helps them battle Vegas, Kings and other bruisers in the West.
3) Anaheim trades down from #2 to #5, but gets #14 and Mesar, last year's #26 pick and Montreal's top prospect as well.
Drouin, who finished the season well at centre, gets another look. If all goes well, he, Gurianov and/or Monahan can be moved at the trade deadline.
Habs draft:
2 -- Fantilli (and puts an end to the PLD madness)
20 -- Best of Danielson, But or Honzek
31 -- Seeking fallen angels here, but looking to take a D (Simashev, Bonk, Molledyk) or Hrabel (G)
33 -- Hrabel or BPA
37 -- BPA
The Pens have Granlund and Carter as their #3 and #4 centres, with Poehling as the spare. Dvorak (at $2.25M) is a significant upgrade on Poehling and offers some much-needed depth if the Pens are going to push into the playoffs.
The Pens' LHD is old, with Ruutta, Dumoulin and Petterson. Harris is a solid prospect to have in place while they await the arrival of Beliveau and Pickering.