Montreal Canadiens Almost Traded P.K. Subban To Vancouver Canucks

The Vancouver Canucks and Montreal Canadiens nearly pulled off a blockbuster trade at the 2016 NHL Draft featuring P.K. Subban

There could be an entire encyclopedia written about the best NHL trades that never happened. Steve Yzerman for Alexei Yashin. Vincent Lecavalier for every firstborn child in Montreal. You can add another one to the list. Back at the 2016 NHL Draft, the Montreal Canadiens nearly traded P.K. Subban to the Vancouver Canucks.

This information comes from Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek’s 31 Thoughts podcast around the five-minute mark.

"“There was a chance the Canucks was going to get Subban that night. But the problem was Pierre-Luc Dubois was not going to fall to Vancouver’s pick. If Montreal believed he would be available at their pick [fifth overall], Subban could have been a Vancouver Canuck.”"

And there was speculation about Tanev and Horvat being involved several days before the draft. Though who knows if that trade was still on the table on draft day.

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Vancouver’s interest is believable because the Canucks got a tampering fine in 2016 because general manager Jim Benning wasn’t shy about his interest in adding two players who, at the time, were under contract with another team. One was Subban, the other was Steven Stamkos. So at the very least, the Canucks unquestionably wanted the former.

This trade fell apart, largely because the Canadiens realized the Blue Jackets were going to take Dubois with the third overall pick.

However, let’s have some fun. What if Friedman’s speculated blockbuster actually happened?

Note: Yes, the Nashville Predators would be affected since they wouldn’t have Subban. But for the sake of time, they’re being ignored.

Montreal Canadiens

This trade would have been remarkably good for them in hindsight. It’s debatable if Horvat is a franchise center. But he’s much closer to being one than Drouin. They’d still have Sergachev because the trade for Drouin wouldn’t have been as necessary.

It’s undeniable going from Subban to Tanev is a step back. Especially given the latter’s unfortunate history with injuries. But at least Tanev’s contract isn’t going to be a long-term liability like Shea Weber’s.

With Dubois, the Canadiens would have impressive center depth. They could do far worse than having Horvat, Dubois, and Alex Galchenyuk (one can dream) down the middle for the foreseeable future. And a blue line featuring Tanev, Victor Mete, and Mikhail Sergachev isn’t outstanding, but it’s definitely better than what they have right now.

Overall, trading Subban was still a bad idea. It will always be one. But in hindsight, the Canucks’ offer made way more sense than trading him for Weber. Does the trade make them a Stanley Cup contender? Probably not. But the Canadiens are much better off in this alternate reality than in the real world.

Which alternate reality is best for Montreal? The one where they don’t overreact to the 2015-16 season and still have Subban.

Vancouver Canucks

There’s no way in heck Benning would have accidentally stumbled upon a rebuild in this reality. Not with Subban. He would have kept them much more competitive in 2016-17 and this season. This likely deludes Benning into being active during the 2017 offseason. Even more so than he was.

Instead of Drouin for Sergachev, Benning trades Olli Juolevi and a second-round pick for the former because, without Horvat, they don’t have a franchise center. Don’t tell me you couldn’t see him doing that trade.

Subban is a heck of a player. But Canucks fans should be really happy the Tanev, Horvat, and the first-round pick for P.K. trade didn’t happen. It would have led to more of the same from Benning. Even if it’s by accident, the Canucks seem to have accepted their fate as a rebuilding team. That doesn’t happen if Subban in his prime is on the team.

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Verdict

It’s remarkable how this trade almost happened. And then it didn’t happen for a silly reason. The trade would have changed both franchises. But if you ignore hindsight, it’s fair to question if the change for either franchise would be a significant one. Sometimes the best trades are the ones you don’t make. And sometimes the trades you don’t make are the worst.