Although the team is rebuilding, the Habs have a nice bank of prospects and sometimes when you want to acquire a quality player, you have to sacrifice some.
In a column on Montreal Hockey Now, Marco D'Amico suggested three names that could be part of a future deal, namely, Mattias Norlinder, Oliver Kapanen and Jesse Ylonen.
In the case of Norlinder, his progress has been stagnant for some time and the organization has enough depth on the blue line with Logan Mailloux and Lane Hutson to perhaps consider parting with the man who was a third round pick in 2019.
As for Kapanen, Kasperi's cousin who plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins, he is progressing well this year in Europe, but like Norlinder, many center players are probably ahead of him in the hierarchy of the organization's best prospects. We can think of Owen Beck and also Riley Kidney.
And finally, Ylonen, surprisingly, is currently playing with the big club, but he doesn't seem to be finding his niche with the Habs, despite being used in offensive situations since his recall. He has only two assists in ten games this season and one wonders if he will ever be a regular in the lineup.
Even if these three players are not considered among the best prospects in the organization, it is possible that Kent Hughes could use them in a possible trade and with the depth that the Habs have at the youth level, it would certainly not surprise us if one of these prospects leaves the organization sooner rather than later.
