The Canadiens are going through a significant rebuild and are still quite a few years away from taking a serious step toward contention. They have a strong core of young players to build around with Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Juraj Slafkovský already in place, not to mention another top-five pick this season and the No. 26 overall pick from Winnipeg.

That No. 26 pick could give them a potential trade chip to dangle, while Zegras could fit a second-line center role behind Suzuki and give the Canadiens a potentially dynamic 1-2 punch down the middle.