The Montreal Canadiens have been tied to trade talks with Pierre-Luc Dubois for some time now, but the latest rumours are pointing to a trade between Winninpeg and Los Angeles sooner rather than later. It appears that this made the Canadiens pivot and look for help elsewhere. Perhaps they took inspiration from the re-emergence of Kirby Dach because they made a similar trade to that one by acquiring Alex Newhook from the Colorado Avalanche:

That first-round pick was acquired in the Ben Chiarot trade in 2022. It is an instance of parting with non-high-end draft picks in order to get a player they think can make an impact now, and still improve in years to come. Let's break down what it means for fantasy owners.

(FYI: Newhook is officially an RFA but the expectation is he'll be signed by Montreal.)

What Montreal Gets

Let's be clear about this: if Newhook was performing like the player drafted right before him in 2019 – Cole Caufield – or perhaps even the guy drafted right after him – Peyton Krebs – he's not being traded by Colorado this summer. The Avalanche were a Cup contender that lost Nazem Kadri and Andre Burakovsky last offseason, had Valeri Nichushkin miss 29 games, didn't have Gabriel Landeskog at all, and Newhook still couldn't earn consistent top-6 minutes. He would skate 16-17 minutes for a handful of games then it was back to 11-13 minutes a night. In Colorado's seven games in the postseason, Newhook played under 8 minutes more often (three times) than he played over 11 minutes (twice). Maybe there was pressure due to being on a contender, or some development lost to COVID, but this was still a team desperate for anyone to step up. Newhook just finished his age-22 season.

The reason he wasn't able to keep a consistently impactful roster spot was he didn't really do anything when he was on the ice. His tracked scoring chance contributions were worse than JT Compher, as were his scoring chance assists, and his primary points rate at 5-on-5 was 1.14. That ranked worse than names like Barclay Goodrow, Sammy Blais, Jack McBain, and Ryan Lomberg.

The silver lining was Newhook's lack of playing with the higher-end guys. His four most-common line mates over the last two seasons were Logan O'Connor, JT Compher, Evan Rodrigues, and Nicolas Aube-Kubel. Out of Nichushkin/MacKinnon/Rantanen, Newhook spent the most time with Nichushkin, and it amounted to just 12% of his 5-on-5 ice time. He actually played well with Nichushkin, by some play-driving metrics, in the limited time they got, but clearly the team was looking for more.

This is a reclamation project of sorts and Kent Hughes has myriad connections with Newhook. Perhaps they feel that sliding him with players like Caufield, Kirby Dach, or Nick Suzuki will give him the offensive jolt he showed glimpses of in his limited time with Nichushkin and Rantanen. I would also be wary of assuming the Montreal players will perform similarly to the Colorado players.

If all goes well, he could be the player that Montreal hoped Jonathan Drouin would be before the injuries. Drouin's best seasons produced around 20 goals and 50 points, and that would be a successful fantasy season for Newhook if he can do that in 2023-24 (or even 2024-25). It should also be noted that he's increased his hit rate every season and even just doing what he did in 2022-23, on a per-minute basis, but at 16 minutes a night, would get him close to 70 hits. If he actually increase his per-minute hit rate, he could be a hit-per-game player. That's not nothing, but he needs the minutes first.

For Colorado, this feels like step 1 of many to come as they re-tool their contending team. It would ostensibly open a roster spot, but that may be filled from outside the organization very soon. It doesn't change a whole lot for them, really, besides give them more draft capital for which to find the Newhook upgrade. They already have one upgrade in Ryan Johansen, too. It does seem like an improvement for Newhook, considering he was not breaking through on that Avs roster, even if he's going to a non-playoff team.

The same goes for Montreal, honestly; rumours are they are going to be busy. With Newhook being a left-handed shot and Dach a righty, it would make sense to have the two of them on a line and switching off for the appropriate faceoffs. That would leave them missing a finisher on the line, but it is an option. If Newhook plays well, it could eat into Christian Dvorak's ice time quickly. It also provides another roadblock for players like Owen Beck and Sean Farrell.

Who This Helps

Ryan Johansen

Alex Newhook

Kirby Dach

Who This Hurts

Christian Dvorak

Jake Evans

Owen Beck