rewrite this title NHL analysts debate Sidney Crosby to Canadiens trade packages including future stars Lane Hutson or Ivan Demidov

NHL analysts debate potential Sidney Crosby trade to Montreal Canadiens, with Lane Hutson and Ivan Demidov in the mix,

Sidney Crosby’s future in Pittsburgh is once again in the spotlight. The Penguins’ captain still has two years left on his $17.4 million contract, but after finishing second-last in the Metropolitan Division last season and staring down a looming rebuild, speculation about a trade has picked up steam.

Also, Crosby’s game-winning performance for Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off only added fuel to the rumors, with fans wondering if he could finish his career with a Canadian team.

On TSN’s FanDuel OverDrive, analysts Bryan Hayes, Jeff O’Neill, and Jamie McLennan debated what a Crosby trade to the Montreal Canadiens might look like.

Jeff O’Neill suggested the deal would,

“Probably start with Lane Hutson or something.”

McLennan pushed back, arguing that it would be more about draft picks and prospects rather than established young stars.

“I don’t think it’s somebody on their live roster that is playing. Like it’s not Demidov,” he said.

O’Neill disagreed:

“If you’re trading Sidney Crosby, you’re not getting a player off a live roster. No way, man.”

Hayes added that money would also need to line up. McLennan pointed out that Montreal had already freed up $10.5 million in cap space.

The conversation then turned to whether Ivan Demidov could be part of the package. Hayes asked,

“Would you do Demidov straight up for Sid right now?”

McLennan wasn’t convinced, saying it didn’t make sense for Montreal’s current stage of development. O’Neill, however, was all in:

“Of course. To bring in Sidney Crosby into the fold, to get a couple of years out of him.”

McLennan praised Crosby’s legacy, calling him a “Mount Rushmore player”, but stressed his age, “He’s 38… Montreal’s on the cusp of winning the Cup?”

Hayes agreed Crosby could push the Canadiens forward:

“That puts them over the top to be on the cusp. Demidov, there’s a lot of people who have high expectations for him. I still don’t know exactly what he’s going to do. Sid, I think, has two more years of being elite.”

Crosby, for his part, showed he still has plenty left in the tank. This past season, he scored 31 goals and 84 points across 80 games.

Jamie McLennan on Montreal Canadiens’s future

Jamie McLennan pushed back on Bryan Hayes’s point, questioning whether Montreal could realistically become a Cup contender within Crosby’s remaining two-year elite window.

“Is Montreal a Cup winner in two years? I don’t see that. I see them as getting better and better, and maybe Demidov is part of that. Lane Hutson’s progression.” McLennan said.

Last season, the Canadiens snapped a three-year playoff drought by grabbing the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. They’ll open the new campaign on October 8 against the Maple Leafs.

Edited by Chaitanya Prakash