The CH must trade Jacob Fowler or David Reinbacher before the expansion draft

Michaël Petit
The CH must trade Jacob Fowler or David Reinbacher before the expansion draft
Credit: Capture d'écran/Twitter

There have been some developments regarding the next NHL expansion.

First, yesterday we learned that Bill Daly will announce the new expansion team by the end of 2026, which is expected to join the league in 2029–2030.

This doesn't really help the Montreal Canadiens, because they have several promising players and won't be able to protect them all.

The general consensus is that the Habs should opt for the approach of protecting seven forwards, three defensemen, and one goaltender, rather than eight skaters and one goaltender.

However, with no-trade clauses and the team's key players, there would still be some pretty interesting players left, unless they make a trade or two.

That's partly why I believe the Habs will have to trade Jacob Fowler or David Reinbacher—or even both—since they're the most promising players at risk of not being protected.

Clearly, Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Ivan Demidov, Lane Hutson, and Noah Dobson will definitely be protected. Kaiden Guhle and Jakub Dobes should also be protected.

That means four forwards, three defensemen, and one goaltender would be protected; only three forward spots would remain open, and Zachary Bolduc as well as Michael Hage (who could be eligible if he plays at the end of the 2026–27 season or in the playoffs) could be selected.

This means Fowler will have to prove he deserves to be protected over Dobes, but for now, he trails the Czech defenseman.

As for Reinbacher, he'll need to quickly establish himself as a solid defenseman with the Canadiens to convince the club to protect him.

That gives us two young players who are very attractive to a new expansion team, so they'd need to be traded to acquire one or two high-profile top-6 forwards—in order to protect them with the three “spots” on offense.

For the Habs, there's not that much of a rush because, technically, there would still be three more years before the new expansion team is formed.

Keep in mind, however, that discussions can take place between the Habs and the expansion team to avoid having to select a specific player by offering compensation (such as draft picks). If only one of Reinbacher or Fowler is traded, there's a chance to keep the other.

Nevertheless, the Habs will have to do something to avoid losing a key player.

That said, the Habs do have a strong pool of prospects, notably Alexander Zharovsky, who could become a very interesting prospect for the middle-6 (second or third line).

Let's see what Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton have in store for us.


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