Rumor: Habs and Preds could swap bad contracts.

Prior to the opening of the 2019 National Hockey League free agency period National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman touched on the possibility of a trade between the Nashville Predators and the Montreal Canadiens. 

By this point it was apparent to everyone that star forward Matt Duchene would be leaving the Columbus Blue Jackets organization and would be signing a long term deal with the Nashville Predators, something that did come to pass. The move gave the Predators another center up the middle of the ice and it also added a significant amount of salary to their roster as well. That is not to say that the Predators are in salary cap trouble, but many believed that the acquisition of Duchene made veteran center Kyle Turris expendable, especially after his poor performance last season.

Friedman posited that the Habs and Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin, who were reportedly in the running for Duchene but lost out to the Predators, could set their eyes on Turris as a potential trade target moving forward. Bergevin had previously been high on Turris and with Turris coming off a bad year he could potentially be buying low on a player who is due for a bounce back season. 

That being said Turris does carry a big cap hit and The Athletic's Marc Dumont does not believe the Habs would jump at the chance to make this move following Turris' down year. Instead Dumont believes that the Predators would either need to sweeten the deal in order to make it happen, or interestingly enough take back a bad contract of their own in the deal. Specifically Dumont could see the Predators curing the Canadiens of the Karl Alzner headache as a good enough incentive for Bergevin to move on this deal.

From Dumont:

There are two ways that a potential Turris trade might interest the Canadiens, and both depend on how desperate the Predators are to get rid of his contract.

The first would include the Predators retaining a significant portion of Turris’ salary. Poile is not one to go down that route, which brings us to the second option. The Canadiens have actively tried to trade defenseman Karl Alzner, but his $4.625 million cap hit through 2022 has derailed trade discussions. If the Predators were willing to accept Alzner as part of the return, perhaps even with the Canadiens retaining a portion of his salary, a trade might be feasible. If not, the Canadiens would likely look for the Predators to throw in a decent prospect or a couple of draft picks.

What do you think guys? Do you like this trade for the Habs? Is taking on Alzner's deal worth clearing the extra money from Turris off the books?  Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.