NHL trade rumors: 3 teams who should trade for Kris Letang

3. Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens are looking to improve their blueline. Though Kris Letang is right-handed and the Habs already have two very good options on the right side, Letang would be an upgrade over Jeff Petry.

I think Petry would have to be heading to the Penguins in a Letang trade involving the Canadiens for two reasons. First of all, it makes the finances a bit easier to swallow for Montreal. Petry has a $5.5 million cap hit next season before becoming an unrestricted free agent. Secondly, it would make zero sense to trade for Letang and keep Petry. Thirdly, the Penguins would need a replacement for Letang if they trade him. Petry would make sense.

Letang would make sense for the Montreal Canadiens for several reasons. First of all, the Habs have the cap space to upgrade their lineup and there aren’t too many forward options out there in free agency. So they could elect to use it to upgrade in other areas, much like they did when they traded for Jake Allen.

Secondly, the Canadiens power play is so bad, my friend who’s a Habs fan keeps telling me they should decline power plays. I can’t say I disagree with him, as the Canadiens had the 10th-least effective power play in the NHL, only converting on 17.7% of their chances during the regular season.

While the Canadiens will probably spend this offseason trying to upgrade their forwards or find better options on the left side, they’ve already proven they’re not afraid to make moves that make them better. So while Letang probably won’t be traded to the Canadiens, keep an eye on them. Also, Letang would likely accept a trade to the Canadiens because he’s originally from Montreal.