3 defensemen placed on the trade market this summer, including one big surprise?

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Dan
March 29, 2023 (11:58)

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Despite the youthfulness of the Habs' defensive squad, Kaiden Guhle, Jordan Harris, Justin Barron and Arber Xhekaj have all shown good skills and promise for the future.

But through these talented young backs, the Habs can count on the reassuring presence of some veterans to support these young men.

We can identify three defensemen that we can even call true pillars as mentioned by Marc-Olivier Cook of Danslescoulisses.com:

Michael Matheson, Joel Edmundson and David Savard.

However, there is a good chance that at least one of the three will not be back with the Habs next season. At least that's what RDS game analyst Marc Denis said during a recent appearance on TSN 690.

"If you can get something interesting in return for one of the three veterans, it makes sense to make a trade. It will allow the young defensemen to get the playing time they need to develop."

As we know, Edmundson was on the market this season, but due to injury, Kent Hughes was not able to get what he wanted in return.

The chances of him leaving this summer are still legitimate as he will be serving the last year of his contract and his value will likely be excellent.

As for Savard and Matheson, Martin St-Louis will probably want to count on their presence on the team to support the young defensemen of the organization and I would not bet on the possibility of seeing one or the other leave Montreal during the off-season.

That being said, the organization will have some big decisions to make for next season, but if the price is right, it is very likely that we will see the departure of one of these three veterans.

In the case of Matheson, we didn't think the CH would be happy to trade him. It's a surprise to see him mentioned.

In our opinion, it would be more Edmundson, or at worst, Savard, who could leave if the return is worth it.