RUMOR: Montreal Canadiens to ship veteran player to a Western contender

A few weeks ago, many people were wondering what was going to happen to Tomas Plekanec and the Montreal Canadiens. Because even though the 35-year-old centerman played exactly 981 games with the Habs between 2003 and 2018, his future is all but certain with the team that drafted him in the third round of the 2001 NHL draft since he's set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st.

With the Canadiens' awful 23-29-8 record, many experts believe general manager Marc Bergevin is going to ship the veteran elsewhere. Since Plekanec doesn't own any trade protection, he could literally be sent anywhere.

Now according to Winnipeg Jets' insider Jeff Hamilton, Plekanec could very well be shipped in Manitoba before Monday afternoon:

Feeling more than a rumour at this point. Multiple sources tell me #NHLJets are pushing for C Tomas Plekanec, who is scratched for Habs tonight. Word is plan to centre 3rd line w/ Laine and Ehlers, move Copp to 4th line with Lowry and Armia.
— Jeff Hamilton (@jeffkhamilton) February 24, 2018

Former NHL scout Grant McCagg, who now covers the Montreal Canadiens for recrutes.ca, also added that he heard Jets' GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has a certain interest in him:

#Jets and #Habs are in strong negotiations regarding Plekanec. Jets first-round pick may be on the block as it was offered for Brassard, who used his NMC to nix the deal.
— Grant McCagg (@grantmccagg) February 24, 2018

Just to be clear - this is not saying Pleks is going for Winnipeg's first pick straight up...only that Winnipeg is not averse to offering their first in a deadline deal. Personally I think the Habs would need to include one of their second-round picks.
— Grant McCagg (@grantmccagg) February 24, 2018

Back in January, Pleky told Montreal Gazette reporter Stu Cowan that he hoped he could play in Montreal until the end of his career:

I don’t know what kind of interest there will be in me,” Plekanec said when the trade deadline was mentioned. “My goal is to play in Montreal and that’s never changed. I’ve always wanted to play here as long as I could. What’s going to happen, it’s really out of my hands."

He also added that while many NHL players do not want to play for the Canadiens, he loves Montreal and wouldn't want to play elsewhere:

“There are a lot of players around the league who don’t want to play here for certain reasons, but I never found any reason not to play here,” he added. “I’ve always enjoyed coming to the Bell Centre and playing in front of the fans. You know it’s always going to be packed and there’s always going to be passion for the game and I’ve loved that since I was a kid and nothing has changed about that now when I’m older.”

We'll have to wait and see what happens over the next few hours!

Plekanec amassed six goals and 18 assists for 24 points in 60 games this season. He has a career total of 605 points in 981 games.