Likeliest Canadiens on the Move to Make Room for Harvey-Pinard & Laine   – The Hockey Writers – Montreal Canadiens

With only 22 of 23 roster spots taken up, the Montreal Canadiens are in a decent position to smoothly sustain the potentially imminent return of star Patrik Laine. Having suffered a knee injury in training camp, Laine resuming skating would align with the initially projected rehabilitation timetable of 2-3 months. So far so good.

Then came news the Canadiens loaned Rafael Harvey-Pinard to the Laval Rocket in the American Hockey League, throwing a little wrench into those hypothetical plans. To be fair, it’s not like Harvey-Pinard’s conditioning stint has come out of left field. He too recently resumed skating after suffering an offseason injury.

However, there isn’t room for both… at least not with how the roster is currently constructed. The Canadiens will have to move someone, somehow, whether it be via demotion, trade, etc. Here are the five likeliest Canadiens candidates to be on the move:

5. Joel Armia

The logic here is the Canadiens have demoted Joel Armia before (at the start of last season). So, it isn’t like general manager Kent Hughes has deluded himself into believing the winger is a part of the team’s future. As a pending unrestricted free agent, Armia is still on the block, and, while they would like to get something of value in exchange for him, they’ve probably long since come to terms with the fact his value isn’t all that high.

Pierre McGuire: “They’ve been trying to trade Joel Armia for a long time I can tell you right now. I was working for a team where they offered Joel Armia to us and that was 3 years ago” 👀

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All that said, while Armia is far from picking up where he left off last season, when he scored a career-high 17 goals, he is on a similar points pace, albeit with just two goals (eight points) on the season. It’s no stretch to suggest the Canadiens could at least get something for him at the trade deadline, seeing as any hypothetical trade partner wouldn’t have to worry about his $3.4 million cap hit past this season.

4. Michael Pezzetta

Michael Pezzetta perfectly fills a niche role as a 13th forward. So, even though he’s replaceable in theory, it would be odd for the Canadiens to demote him when…