Ready to get weird? The Montreal Canadiens have reportedly started to “gauge the market” for their former Norris-winning all-star defenseman P.K. Subban:
Not suggesting #Canadiens will trade Subban. Just saying one team confirmed #Habs are “gauging the market”.
— Louis Jean (@LouisJean_TVA) February 19, 2016
First reaction: What the hell are the Habs thinking?
This is all just a report, and it’s not very likely to happen but let’s have some fun with it. What exactly should the Red Wings be willing to give up for a guy like Subban? There’s a lot of complications to this because of his $9 million cap-hit, and his massive term, but let’s pretend they can resolve that somehow.
Obviously Subban is one of the top-three defensemen in the league. Any trade that involved him would be an absolute mega-deal. I guess my question is, how much would be TOO much for a guy like P.K. Subban? I have a gut feeling that a trade that brings him to Detroit would likely end up with Montreal asking for Dylan Larkin just to start. I think the most of us are pretty tied with two players in the organization being absolutely untouchable: Dylan Larkin and Petr Mrazek. Everything else? Fair game.
Now here is the question: Outside of the two untouchables, is there any amount of assets we say no to? Nyquist, Tatar, DeKeyser, multiple first round picks? Does that do the deal? Probably not. Marc Bergevin hasn’t had a banner season since Carey Price went down with an injury. The Habs have been one of the worst teams in the league after starting as one of the best. I’m not sure trading P.K. Subban makes any sense for them, and by all means this could just be a folly of a report. The question is could Ken Holland make it happen, or would Bergevin launch the asking price into a different stratosphere because it’s intra-division?
That’s why I ask the question – Is there any package of assets whether it’s prospects, roster players, and draft picks outside of the aforementioned untouchables that we would stop and cringe at? Of course there are, but the question begs to be asked. Could it be done?
