With less than 24 hours before the 2024 Draft, the trade market is starting to pick up. Yesterday, we had the first “draft trade” when the Buffalo Sabres acquired the San Jose Sharks’ 14th and 42nd picks for their 11th overall pick. The Sharks also flipped Kyle Burroughs to the Los Angeles Kings for Carl Grundstrom. On June 26, the Chicago Blackhawks acquired Ilya Mikheyev, Sam Lafferty, and a second-round pick in the 2027 Draft from the Vancouver Canucks, and they only had to fork out their fourth-round pick at the 2027 Draft.
This is just a small sample of what has gone on so far. Meanwhile, it’s all quiet on the western front for the Montreal Canadiens. Could Kent Hughes be cooking up a trade of his own? Looking at Rutger McGroarty perhaps?
Who is Rutger McGroarty?
McGroarty is a 20-year-old right winger drafted by the Winnipeg Jets at the 2022 Draft. He has played his last two seasons with the University of Michigan in the Big 10 division of the NCAA. At 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds he could make the Canadiens bigger up front.
Furthermore, he’s a highly skilled forward and while he lacks speed and needs to improve his skating, he has the size, skills, and versatility coaches dream of. With top-six potential, he can also play on both the power play and the penalty kill.
Unfortunately for the Jets, McGroarty has let it be known that he doesn’t see a future for him in Winnipeg and requested a trade. The Manitoba outfit was shocked when the youngster decided to head back to Michigan to play a second season and, the player has explained he has observed how Cole Perfetti and Ville Heinola were developed and the pattern he is seeing doesn’t sit right with him.
What Could the Canadiens Offer?
That’s a question Hughes would be more suited to answer, but let me try anyway. The Jets have forward Morgan Barron in their lineup, Canadiens’ blueliner Justin Barron’s brother. Since he was acquired in the Artturi Lehkonen trade with the Colorado Avalanche, he has been unable to get a regular spot in the lineup. Next season they won’t be able to send him down to the Laval Rocket without putting him on waivers. Since the blue line is overcrowded and rather than potentially losing him for nothing, exploring a trade could be an idea.
Related: How Will Justin Barron’s Contract Fit in Canadiens’ Salary Structure?
Of course, Barron alone wouldn’t be enough, his stock has gone down since the trade and the Jets would obviously want more. Funnily enough, the pick the Canadiens acquired in the Lehkonen trade is a second-round pick in this year’s draft. As it was initially the Avalanche’s pick, it would be the 57th overall selection. Since McGroarty was a 14th overall pick initially, it would seem fair to offer a first-round pick. Not the fifth-overall obviously, but the 26th-overall could do the job. You know, the pick the Canadiens got for trading Sean Monahan to those same Jets earlier this season? I feel this could at least start the conversation, but I’ll leave the GM to iron out the details as the Canadiens’ VP of hockey operations Jeff Gorton would say.
I expect there will be many suitors for the Jets’ prospect, however, and the phones might be ringing quite a bit for Kevin Cheveldayoff. It’s also possible that he’ll pull the trigger only during the draft in light of how things are going for his team and if he’s been able to identify a particular hole in his prospect pool or his lineup.
Mind you, knowing Hughes, he could have an ace up his sleeve and surprise us with a trade no one sees coming. After all, it’s what he did in the last two drafts, these things come in threes don’t they say?
