What Would a PK Subban Trade Look Like?

The rift between PK Subban, Marc Bergevin, and Michel Therrien likely is not made up, and it’s going to be a story line as we keep moving forward. Whether or not the Montreal Canadiens move Subban is a completely different story, one that Megan Fowler touched on for us yesterday in her piece, which you can read here.

Many insiders, from Darren Dreger to Pierre LeBrun to Eric Engels, have denied that the Canadiens are shopping the defender and say that he isn’t going anywhere. Engels even tweeted out a quote from a member of Montreal’s brass that denied the team was looking to move him.

That said, what else do you expect the Canadiens to say, take it with a grain of salt.

The odds are that Montreal isn’t going to move their franchise player. He’s arguably the best defender in the NHL and he’s easily Montreal’s best player, yes better than Carey Price. If anything, Montreal should make a coaching change before they change out their best player. Add in PK’s contract and his pending NMC (as of July 1st, 2016) and getting fair value on a deal will be close to impossible.

Simply put, this would be an idiotic decision by the Montreal Canadiens, there is no other way to spin it.

What If?:

That said, where there is smoke, there is usually fire, especially with such a major player. There is a rift in Montreal, I don’t think there is anyway around that point. While I would be stunned if the Habs dealt Subban, you can never say never in the business that is pro sports. This is the same organization, after all, that dumped Patrick Roy when he got into it with his coach.

So, what if Montreal did decide to move Subban? You would have to think that the Edmonton Oilers are one of the teams best positioned to make a play for Subban. The Oilers have tons of young assets and a top five pick in the upcoming draft to dangle to a team that may be looking to rebuild things on the fly.

Factor in that Subban is a legit number one defender in this league, an elite defender, and that he is a right shot and you would have to think that Peter Chiarelli will pay any price asked for this player.

In reality, anyone not named McDavid should be in play for a guy like Subban. Hall, Nugent-Hopkins, Nurse, Klefbom, Eberle, the pick, they should ALL be in play for an elite talent like Subban.

Let’s Make A Deal:

So, what would a PK Subban to Edmonton deal look like? Tough to say, but it would certainly cost the Oilers quite a bit. Montreal has been looking for a young center for a long time and they were rumored to be looking at Ryan Nugent-Hopkins earlier this season. Any deal would start with RNH going the other way.

Montreal would also want a defender going to the other way, but they probably wouldn’t want the contract of Andrej Sekera. That would leave Oscar Klefbom and Darnell Nurse to pick from for Montreal, and while Klefbom is a better player today, Nurse has a higher ceiling. So, let’s put Nurse in as the defensive piece heading back to Montreal.

The Canadiens have been looking for a goal scorer for a while as well, so let’s add Nail Yakupov into the mix. Yakupov has a value contract that runs through next season ($2.5 M per) and has a chemistry with Montreal’s Alex Galchenyuk. The Habs have been rumored to be interested in him as well.

That said, the Oilers would need a forward back in this deal, so let’s look at Lars Eller, who the Canadiens are rumored to have on the block. He’s not a sexy offensive producer, but he’s a low level second-line center, ideally a third line pivot. He would fit the Chiarelli mold and replace RNH for Edmonton. He’s an upgrade on Mark Letestu as well on the third line.

Lastly, Montreal would want Edmonton’s 1st round pick this summer, so that will be part of this deal. To average things out a bit, Edmonton would take back Montreal’s second round choice, likely between 31-40, in this June’s entry draft.

The deal I propose would be the following:

To Montreal: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Nail Yakupov, 2016 1st round pick, Darnell Nurse

To Edmonton: PK Subban, Lars Eller, 2016 second round pick

New Look Oilers:

If Edmonton pulled off a deal like the one listed above, they could go into next season with the following depth chart, which still needs some work by the way.

Taylor Hall – Leon Draisaitl – Anton Slepyshev

Benoit Pouliot – Connor McDavid – Jordan Eberle

Jujhar Khaira – Lars Eller – Zack Kassian

Lauri Korpikoski – Mark Letestu – Matt Hendricks

Oscar Klefbom – PK Subban

Andrej Sekera – Jason Demers (UFA)

Brandon Davidson – Eric Gryba

Cam Talbot, Laurent Brossoit

Final Thoughts:

The Oilers would give up a lot in this situation, but they would have acquired a legit top-pairing defender who is a RHD. They would, for the first time since Chris Pronger, have an elite rearguard. What the Oilers have right now simply doesn’t work, making a big change with the core might just be what the doctor ordered.

That said, the odds of Subban actually moving are slim to none in my mind. The reason for this post? To show what it might cost Edmonton to get their hands on arguably the most talented defender in the entire NHL. I would certainly take that deal if I was Edmonton, would you?

While it probably never happens, it’s interesting to think about what could be.