"Most Logical Trade Partner" For Canadiens' Evans & Armia Named

GM Kent Hughes and the Montreal Canadiens' phones have been lighting up more than most teams around the league with trade offers. They have several desired pieces, none more than penalty-kill maestros Jake Evans and Joel Armia, both pending UFAs this summer.

But which team(s) make the most sense for a trade with the Habs, given need and tradable assets?

According to Marc Dumont in Montreal Hockey Now, the "most logical trade partner" would be Bill Guerin and the Minnesota Wild.

With lots of cap space, plenty of talented young prospects, and a desperate need to improve their penalty kill, no team is more of a slam dunk to need to get something done with Montreal than the Wild. And when it comes to that league-second-worst PK, as Dumont notes, the pressure is building from all sides.

It’s a no-brainer for Guerin to go after an Armia/Evans PK tag-team at this point. Like enough is enough with this penalty kill.
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) February 28, 2025

Plugged-in Wild insider Michael Russo posted during Thursday night's abhorrent 6-1 Minnesota loss to Utah, which featured two more power play goals against, "It’s a no-brainer for Guerin to go after an Armia/Evans PK tag-team at this point. Like enough is enough with this penalty kill."

The Wild's penalty-killing unit has a lowly 70.9% success rate on the season, with only the Detroit Red Wings at a worse rate, at 70%. Evans & Armia are amongst the best duo in the league on the PK. The Habs rank 6th in the league at 81.8%.

As for what could move from Minnesota in exchange, the Wild have the second-ranked prospect pool in the league, and Dumont makes a bold bid to have them put their No. 2 prospect Danila Yurov into the deal. It's likely a bridge too far, but maybe Montreal can throw in a draft pick or two (they have nine in the first four rounds this year alone) to help even things out.

Dumont's final argument is that it's a seller's market out there, and the Canadiens have plenty of interested parties, so if the Wild really want to fix their broken PK, they may have to pay up.