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Meet the Buyers: The Montréal Canadiens are second in the Atlantic Division with a strong prospect pool
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Photo credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Feb 21, 2026, 12:00 ESTUpdated: Feb 21, 2026, 00:00 EST
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The Montréal Canadiens made the playoffs in 2024-25, and have built off that in a big way.
Heading into the Olympic break, the lone Québec team has a 32-17-8 record, with their 72 points being tied for the second-most in the Atlantic Division. They have a bright future ahead of them, with tons of solid young players and burgeoning superstars like Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovský.
The Canadiens are an example of a team that rebuilded the correct way. After losing in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, both Shea Weber and Carey Price essentially retired. They then had three high first round picks with solid drafting the latter rounds to put them in the position they are in now.
It’s something that the Flames can learn from. Heading into the Mar. 6 trade deadline, the Flames have several notable players who could be on the move, such as Nazem Kadri, Blake Coleman, MacKenzie Weegar, Zach Whitecloud, and Ryan Lomberg.
Let’s take a look at the Canadiens’ needs, their cap situation, and what they’d have to offer in a hypothetical trade.

Canadiens’ needs and cap situation

As it stands, the Canadiens have no players on the long-term injured reserve, meaning that they are accumulating cap space heading into the trade deadline. They have about $1.098 in current cap space, and by Mar. 6th, they’ll have a little over $1.49 million.
Kadri ($7 million cap hit), Coleman ($4.9 million cap hit), Lomberg ($2 million cap hit), Weegar ($6.25 million cap hit), and Whitecloud ($2.75 million cap hit) are all well over the $1.49 million cap, but one player that’d off-set the salary is Patrik Laine. 
While Laine hasn’t developed into the scoring threat he was once believed to be early in his career, he is a solid top six forward with a solid shot. He has a cap hit of $8.7 million and is a pending unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. If the Flames were to acquire Laine, they could realistically flip him at the deadline while eating 50% of his cap, or let him play out his season as an addition of sorts. 
On the other hand, Kadri was a Canadiens fan growing up and they could use him in their top six. According to Daily Faceoff’s line combination, Oliver Kapanen is penciled in as their second line centre, and while he’s off to a solid sophomore campaign (18 goals and 31 points), Kadri would give them a Stanley Cup-winning second line centre. Coleman would also fit on their second or third line.
One area the Canadiens don’t need help in is on defence. They have a strong top four of Lane Hutson, Noah Dobson, Mike Matheson, and Kaiden Guhle, so Weegar is not needed.  Alexandre Carrier is the right-shot defenceman on their third-pairing, so Whitecloud isn’t needed.

What the Canadiens have to offer

Any trade between the two teams would require the Canadiens to clear cap salary, and the easiest way to do that is by trading Laine. That could lead to an additional trade for the Flames, or potentially an option for the 2026-27 season if he re-signs.
As for their picks, the Canadiens have their first round picks for their next three seasons, as well as their next three second and third round picks. They have two fourths, no fifths, and two sevenths in June’s draft.
Unlike other teams that we’ve covered so far in this series, Daily Faceoff rates the Canadiens farm system highly, with their top centre prospect being Michael Hage, who ranked fourth heading into the season. David Reinbacher is their strongest defence prospect, while Jacob Fowler (who has National Hockey League experience) is their strongest goaltending prospect.
It’s hard to imagine that the Flames would be able to acquire any of these prospects for a player like Kadri, so targeting either a first or a lower ranked prospect in need of an opportunity, like Owen Beck or Joshua Roy, could be an option for the Flames.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for FlamesNation, Oilersnation, and Blue Jays Nation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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