Trade Pitch Sees Canadiens Dealing Top Defensive Prospect for $49.2 Million Star

The Montreal Canadiens snuck into the playoffs this season and should be aggressive in the offseason to add more talent.

The website PuckPedia’s PuckGM tool lets users create their own trades. One user proposed a deal that would see the Canadiens acquire Ryan Pulock from the New York Islanders.

Canadiens acquire:

• Ryan Pulock

Islanders acquire:

• Logan Mailloux
• 2026 second-round pick (Columbus)

The proposed deal would be a blockbuster and one that makes sense for both teams. Montreal gets a more veteran defenseman who has term on his deal for a star young defenseman prospect, who the Islanders can help build around, along with the first overall pick.

The Canadiens would acquire Pulock, who has five years left on his eight-year, $49.2 million deal. Pulock would be a right-shot defenseman who can play on the second pairing behind Lane Hutson. Pulock recorded 5 goals and 18 assists for 23 points in 74 games as he is also a shutdown defenseman.

In return, Montreal would trade Mailloux, whom they selected 31st overall in 2022. The defenseman projects to be a second-pair defenseman and can be someone the Islanders build around as they look to get younger. Mailloux played in 7 games last season, recording 2 goals and 2 assists for 4 points.

Canadiens Using Successful Season as a Stepping Stone

Montreal snuck into the playoffs as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference and was the youngest team in the playoffs.

After making the postseason, Canadiens’ Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Jeff Gorton says they are looking to use this season as a stepping stone to have more success.

“I don’t think it’s fast-forwarding anything,” Gorton said at the year-end press conference. “We’ve come in here with a plan of what we want to do to rebuild this team, and I think it’s certainly helpful in a lot of ways: the experience of it for our players and maybe showing the rest of the league what it could be like to play here.

“There’s a lot of benefits from what the players were able to do this season,” Gorton added. “But we’re certainly not done. There’s a lot more to do here. It’s been a real good year. It’s been a fun year for everybody to be part of and we’re going to use it to as a huge stepping stone to where we’re going.”

The Canadiens have most of their core players locked up. So Montreal can continue to develop and add more talent to be more competitive next season.

Canadiens Coach Believes Mailloux is a Top-4 Defenseman

Mailloux was a first-round pick and has slowly been developing in the minors as he is pushing for full-time playing time.

Although Mailloux only appeared in seven games last season, in February, Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis believes he can be a top-four defenseman.

“Martin St-Louis says he believes Logan Mailloux has the tools to be a long-term top 4 member of the Canadiens,” Anthony Martineau reported on X. “He recalls that the young man, as a 21-year-old, experiences his progression in his own way. Loves his offensive tools. Knows he’s capable of playing defensively too.”

However, Mailloux is one of the Canadiens’ best trade chips this offseason and could be used to acquire a star veteran player.