Monster trade to come? We now know which prospect could be traded for Claude Giroux
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Jeff Drouin
February 21, 2022 (9:10)
The trade deadline is fast approaching and several big names could change addresses soon! For the Montreal Canadiens, this is definitely the case, but several other teams will be interesting.
In particular, there are the Philadelphia Flyers, who will most likely trade their franchise player, Claude Giroux, within a few days / weeks.
Earlier this week, Colorado Avalanche reporter Adrian Dater revealed that Giroux has officially requested a trade from his GM Chuck Fletcher.
On the other hand, there is a clear condition.
He wants to be traded to the Colorado Avalanche. In the worst case, the St. Louis Blues and the Minnesota Wild would be acceptable destinations for him, good alternatives. But he wants to go to Colorado.
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As reported by several experts, a team like the Canadians could be involved, to allow Colorado to acquire Giroux, without exceeding the salary cap.
The Flyers and the Avalanche will involve a third party in the trade, in order to retain the maximum possible in salary (only to end the year).
With the absences of Carey Price, Shea Weber, with the trade of Tyler Toffoli and Ben Chiarot (soon), Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton will have plenty of room to act as third party.
Giroux would therefore be traded to Montreal, Montreal would retain the maximum allowable salary, and he would then be immediately sent to Denver (exactly as Steve Yzerman did last season, acting as an intermediary in the trade involving David Savard).
In exchange for this salary deduction from Giroux, the Habs will be able to get their hands on a prospect or an additional pick.
As for the actual trade, we now know which prospect could be traded. On TJMS, Elliotte Friedman mentioned this:
«I think the prospect of interest here for Philadelphia is Drew Helleson, I've been told he's their type of player, if Giroux is traded to Colorado. We have to focus on him. Sakic has absolutely no desire to trade Newhook. I don't hear his name circulating at all." -Friedman
We can therefore imagine that a potential trade between the Avalanche and the Flyers could look like: Helleson + First-round pick (or Justin Barron) vs Giroux.
Helleson, 20, was drafted 47th overall in 2019 and is excellent in the NCAA. (19 points in 26 games this season and 15 points in 22 games last season) He is a right-handed defenseman who played in the recent Olympic Games.
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