Should The Montreal Canadiens Trade Mike Matheson?

I've said it before and I'll say it again, stating publicly that they wanted to be in the mix this season was a mistake from the Montreal Canadiens' brass. 22 games into the season, the Habs are dead last in their division, their conference and a single point ahead of the Nashville Predators who sit at the bottom of the league's standing.

With American thanksgiving having come and gone, the chances of the Canadiens making the playoffs or even being in the mix toward the end of the season. As a result, you can expect plenty of rumours to swirl around Montreal.

Related: Canadiens Maintain Slim Playoff Odds At Thanksgiving, According To MoneyPuck

Last year, there were talks of Martin Necas and Trevor Zegras, but neither left their team. Out of nowhere though, the Habs acquired Patrik Laine who has yet to make his season debut. His arrival and Lane Hutson and Logan Mailloux' performance at the end of the last campaign probably contributed to Ken Hughes making his ill advised statement about being in the mix.

This season, there's a David Jiricek derby going on and Montreal is apparently one of eight teams trying to acquire the young right-shot defenseman. This is more than likely what prompted fans and media alike to talk about the possibility of trading Mike Matheson.

Related: Could The Canadiens Be Interested In David Jiricek?

Granted, the veteran is coming off a career-year in which he gathered 62 points in 82 games. The season before, he had picked up 34 points in 48 games, a 58-points pace if injuries didn't prevent him from playing. Prior to that, his best offensive season was a 31 points output in 74 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins. In other words, his value has never been as high.

In 20 matches this year, he has put up 13 points on pace for 53 in an 82-game campaign, which is a very respectable number. Some have been advocating for him to be taken off the first power play unit to make way for Lane Hutson and trading him would be one way to achieve that goal, but not the right way in my opinion.

While a rebuild has to be centered on youth, you cannot only have young players, it just doesn't work. Montreal's blueline is already too young and set to become even younger when David Savard's contract expires at the end of the season.

Whichever way you look at it, the Canadiens need a veteran presence on the backend, and trading Matheson for picks and/or prospects would be a miscalculation in my mind. In a hockey deal in which the return is an established right-shot defenseman who could bring leadership and stability to the Tricolore's young core, maybe, but otherwise it's a hard pass for me, for now at least.

Look at the Edmonton Oilers for instance, they have been rebuilding for years and even though they got the first overall pick three years in a row, they wouldn't have been anywhere neat the Stanley Cup final had they not inherited Leon Draisaitl with the third overall pick at the 2014 draft (being Aaron Ekblad and Sam Reinhart - who both lifted Lord Stanley's mug last Spring) and of course, Connor McDavid in 2015.

One of the Oilers' key mistake was focussing too much on the attack, forgetting about defense, goaltending and experienced impact players. Right now, the Canadiens have a lot of prospects on defense, but their cupboard is a lot less stacked when it comes to the attack. While the young players are gaining experience every season, the number of established impactful veterans is dwindling.

Related: Canadiens: A Special Night For Number 13

Tyler Toffoli, Jeff Petry, Joel Edmundson and Artturi Lehkonen have all been shipped out. This year, Joel Armia, Christian Dvorak and Jake Evans are all on expiring deals. Granted, they aren't all impactful, but they still have a fair baggage of experience. Coupled with Savard's contract expiring, it means that next season, Brendan Gallagher, Josh Anderson and Mike Matheson could be the only three Habs with a lot of milage in the NHL.

A rebuild is an exercise where numerous factors have to be balanced. Being too young isn't going to work, but neither is being too old. There's a sweet spot somewhere in the middle that has to be found and should Hughes ship out Matheson without gaining an experienced player in return, he would be moving further away from said sweet spot.

Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains

Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens