2025 NHL Trade Deadline Odds and Rumours: Canadiens ready to part ways with pending UFAs

The Canadiens are not far out of the playoffs, but they’ve made it clear they won’t be buyers at Friday’s trade deadline. This isn’t going to be a fire-sale, but Montreal has a few key UFAs they will likely move.

Let’s take a look at what the Habs could be planning for Friday.

2025 NHL Trade Deadline Tracker: Latest moves, updates and rumours

Targets

Montreal really isn’t in a rush to make a major splash. There are areas they could upgrade, but if the deal doesn’t make sense, they won’t feel pressured to pull the trigger. Bottom line, it’s very possible the Canadiens have a quiet deadline day and push the heavy lifting to the off-season.

One area that will eventually need to be addressed is second-line centre as Kirby Dach just can’t be trusted to stay healthy. At 33-years-old, a player like Brock Nelson doesn’t make sense on a team like Montreal. The Habs will be looking for a young centre signed long-term, someone like Buffalo’s Dylan Cozens.

If the Canadiens trade some of their pending UFAs, the going price is a legit NHL prospect. That’s the return they got when they acquired Emil Heineman from Calgary as part of the package for Tyler Toffoli in 2022.

The Laval Rocket sit second in the AHL standings as of Thursday, so the parent club could also target some minor league players and young prospects to help with Laval’s playoff run.

Pending UFAs

Some of the veteran UFAs that don’t really have a future in Montreal, include Joel Armia, Christian Dvorak and David Savard.

Armia is a puck protection expert and one of the most effective penalty killers in the league. He’d be a perfect addition to a Stanley Cup contender looking to bolster the bottom-six of their forward group with a responsible veteran.

Dvorak still has a lot of gas left in the tank at 29-years-old and his 56.4 winning percentage in the face-off circle is attractive. His $4.45 million cap hit is less attractive, but the Habs still have one salary retention spot left, so they could eat some money.

Savard already has a Stanley Cup ring, so he knows what takes to win in the playoffs. He might be more valuable to the Canadiens as a mentor to the younger players as they push for a playoff spot, but he’s a name teams are surely calling about.