The Rensby-Wills Era Officially Underway In Montreal 2023-02-08 It took 2 weeks for the new Montreal Canadiens GM to make a splash. Matthew Rensby-Wills did so with 2 separate deals, shipping out fan favourite Jordan Kyrou to Colorado and Travis Sanheim to divisional rival Boston. We’re going to break down each trade and get some quotes from GM Rensby-Wills himself to figure out why he made both trades. To Colorado: Jordan Kyrou MTL 5th round pick (2023) $4,500,000 To Montreal: Matt Savoie Denton Mateychuk Ryan Dzingel COL 2nd round pick (2023) COL 3rd round pick (2024) The first trade we’re going to look at see’s elite winger Jordan Kyrou get sent to Colorado along with a fair amount of cash and a 5th round draft pick. In return Montreal lands 2 high-end prospects and a couple of draft picks. Let’s get to know these prospects! Matthew Savoie is a skilled centre for the Winnipeg Ice of the WHL, he can fly, has great hands, and extremely high skill. Savoie’s bread and butter is his playmaking but don’t underestimate his shot. His hockey sense is seen as average by some and may be the one thing that could hold him back from being a truly elite talent. “Savoie is something our prospect pool desperately needed, skill at centre. My goal here is to build a well-rounded prospect pool. With Bystedt and Svechkov we have some strong 2-way centres, Savoie helps compliment that with his immense skill. We know he may take a while to make the leap to the NHL, but we are okay with being patient and letting him develop.” – GM Rensby-Wills. Now let’s move onto defender Denton Mateychuk. Mateychuk is a two-way beast that excels in transition and has a motor to match it. He may not have eye popping skill, but he's so well rounded that there really are no concerns to his game. A captain of the Moose Jaw Warriors, he also demonstrates great leadership skills that the Canadiens will need in the future. Truly a complete package. “A key part of this deal was including Mateychuk, we are extremely high on him and believe that he will be a big piece for our future defensive core. Defense was another weakness to our prospect pool, we had a couple nice pieces up top (Drysdale, Broberg) but beyond that there really wasn’t a ton to be excited about. Mateychuk changes that. I am confident he will become a fan favourite for the Habs.” – GM Rensby-Wills. The two picks that are heading to Montreal are Colorado’s 2nd round pick in the upcoming draft (2023) and their 3rd round pick in next year’s draft (2024). “It was important for us to also gain some draft capital when dealing Kyrou. The 2nd round pick we acquired projects to be in the top half of the round, in a draft as deep as this year’s we are very happy to add that to our arsenal. We trust in our scouting staff and are excited to see who’s available for us at the pick.” – GM Rensby-Wills. A big breakdown for a big trade. Overall, we think this is really a win-win for both teams involved. Montreal gets a haul of futures that they hope can pan out but with that hope comes risk. Colorado gets a sure thing in Kyrou and cash never hurts. To Boston: Travis Sanheim Connor Hvidston MTL 4th round pick (2024) To Montreal: Mike Reilly BOS 1st round pick (2023) * BOS 2nd round pick (2024) *1st round pick has top 10 protection, if the pick is top 10 the pick becomes BOS 1st round pick in 2024 Now let’s look at our second trade. This one may not be quite as exciting as the Kyrou trade but it’s still very important for the future of the Montreal Canadiens. The trade see’s top 4 defenseman Travis Sanheim traded to the Boston Bruins, along with prospect Connor Hvidston and Montreal’s 4th round pick in the 2024 draft. In return Montreal is getting a conditional 1st round pick in the 2023 draft, a 2nd round pick in the 2024 draft, and depth defenseman Mike Reilly. The condition regarding the first round pick is, if the pick is top 10 in the upcoming draft it turns into an unprotected 2024 1st round pick. Let’s see what GM Rensby-Wills has to say about this trade. “It may shock people that one of my first trades is with a divisional rival but I’m not the type of GM that won’t trade with someone just because they’re in my division or conference. This was the best offer we had on the table, and we really can’t say no to adding another first round pick to this 2023 draft class. Obviously, there are conditions to the pick, but we don’t believe Boston will end up as a bottom 10 team in this league, especially once they add Sanheim to their lineup. We now have 4 picks in the top 64 of this draft and hopefully by the end of the year we have a couple more, our scouts are going to be busy.” – GM Rensby-Wills. Another trade we like for both sides. Boston adds a young top 4 defenseman and Montreal adds more draft capital. Now we must wait and see where these picks end up but any draft capital for a team like the Montreal Canadiens is very valuable. Do the Canadiens have anymore trades lined up? "We've had interest in just about everyone on our team, but as of right now we have no other official deals in place. The plan is to still be patient and wait for the right deals to come along, but if there's a chance to add a young player we like or more draft capital then I'm all ears." -GM Rensby-Wills. This is Eric Engels with Sportsnet signing off.
