NHL Trade Rumors: 5 names to watch

Nov 18, 2016; Raleigh, NC, USA; Montreal Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty (67) watches the play during the third period against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena. The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-2. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports /

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Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports /

1. No, the Canadiens aren’t trading Max Pacioretty. Right?

During this week’s 30 thoughts segment, Elliotte Friedman had a very fascinating tidbit about Montreal Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty.

"Sometimes I wonder if a fresh start would be better for [Pacioretty], somewhere quieter. The difference between him and PK Subban is his contract doesn’t have the same pressures…the difficulty is you are trading a 30-goal scorer with a $4.5M average salary. That is worth a ton in today’s NHL. What is equal value? Has to be a lot. I don’t know many teams that could pull it off."

Since being named captain of the Canadiens, he has 79 points in 105 games. However, Pacioretty had to deal with the stress of last season. It’s probably not fair, but whenever a team melts down like Montreal did during the 2015-16 season, the captain is a very easy target for criticism. That’s life.

There are no reports of the Canadiens even listening to offers for Pacioretty. So most likely, he stays in Montreal. Trading him would most likely be a terrible decision for the Canadiens because it’s next to impossible to get fair value for someone like him. Montreal had to trade for Shea Weber to get something resembling fair value for Subban.

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On the other hand, didn’t everyone say the same things about a certain franchise defenseman? Anyone can get traded. Heck, even Wayne Gretzky got traded. So while a Pacioretty trade might seem extremely unlikely at best right now, don’t rule it out.

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