1. Montreal Canadiens
Even though they missed out on the postseason for the third time in four years — this time by just two points — the 2018-19 season has to be considered a major success for the Montreal Canadiens.
Goalie Carey Price shrugged off any suggestions that he was past his prime, winning 35 games while posting a .918 save percentage and a goals against average of 2.49. As far as we’re concerned, he remains the face of the franchise. Max Domi (28 goals, 72 points) and Tomas Tatar (25 goals, 58 points) enjoyed superb first years in Montreal. And with prospect Ryan Poehling and 2018 first rounder Jesperi Kotkaniemi ready for big years in 2019-20, the future is looking ultra promising.
And with bundles of picks in this year’s draft, general manager Marc Bergevin can easily afford to part with some of his prime prospects, young roster players and selections if it means landing a world-class goal scorer like Laine.
The 21-year-old Laine has the makings to be a perennial 40 to 50-goal man, especially with a center like Kotkaniemi feeding him the puck. Laine would take Montreal’s offense to a whole new level, and if you add him to this young core, the Habs would suddenly be in excellent position to compete for a Stanley Cup.
Many of the top Stanley Cup contenders don’t have the young assets to offer up like Bergevin, who could propose something like this to Cheveldayoff:
Jonathan Drouin has yet to break out since joining the Habs in a 2017 offseason trade. He’s tallied just 31 goals and 99 points in 158 games as a Canadien. That prompts Bergevin to make him the centerpiece of a Laine blockbuster.
Playing with Mark Scheifele should be the answer for Drouin, who could finally break out as a 30-goal man on this star-studded Winnipeg team. The Jets, likely to lose right-handed blueliner Myers in free agency, would get a fine replacement in Jeff Petry. Cheveldayoff would also get a third-round pick in a deep 2019 draft, something he could even use as trade bait.
No team is in a better position to sacrifice some of its top assets for Laine, plus Bergevin has the cap space to sign him long-term. It’s a nice return for Winnipeg, and it’s a bonus that they trade Laine out of the Western Conference.