It's not exactly a blockbuster, and it may not help your fantasy teams right now, but the Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks came together for an interesting trade on Wednesday.
In it, the Canadiens picked up Nicolas Beaudin, a 23-year-old defenceman who was taken 27th overall by Chicago in the 2018 draft. Beaudin has played 22 NHL games since -- including two last season -- but has spent most of the past few years in the AHL. In 2021-22, Beaudin finished with 16 points in 66 games.
It's the second time in the past few months that Montreal has scooped a former first-round pick from Chicago, after acquiring Kirby Dach in the off-season.
In return, the Canadiens sent Cam Hillis back to the Windy City. Hillis, a 22-year-old centre, was a third-round pick in the 2018 draft and has played one NHL game so far. He started this season in the ECHL.
So what is each team getting? Will Beaudin be another nice young piece for the Habs to build on?
Sportsnet prospect expert Sam Cosentino shares his thoughts on the two players below, with player cards written by Jason Bukala via The Pro Hockey Group.
MONTREAL RECEIVES: NICOLAS BEAUDIN
Beaudin was a bit of a surprise pick by Chicago at the end of the first round in 2018. The Hawks were looking to address the aging D corps that had helped them to a three-Cup run that ended in 2015. They had two first round picks that season, but didn’t pick again until the third round.
Their first pick at eighth overall, was right shot defenceman Adam Boqvist, who was later traded to Columbus in the Seth Jones deal. He, too, was projected to provide more offence, but we’ve only seen glimpses of it, despite coming off a career year with 11 goals and 22 points in 52 games.
Beaudin always had the reputation of being an elite skater that allowed him to stay up in the play at the junior level, enabling him to create offence. Over his last two years in Drummondville, he produced at point per game levels, and clearly Chicago was looking to capitalize on that offensive talent. His vision is good and there’s no issue with handling or passing the puck. He possesses an excellent shot, but isn’t adept at getting pucks through. While he was able to handle the physicality at the junior level, it’s been much more of a challenge adapting to that side of the game at the pro level.
Beaudin was a member of Canada’s team that miraculously overcame an 0-3 start to capture gold at the 2021 worlds. At 12:06 average time on ice, he was played sparingly, and produced one assist, with a minus-4 rating over 10 games.
He gives GM Kent Hughes some insurance in the short term, but there is some hope that by getting back to his home province, he can become an effective puck mover again, who defends with his feet and provides back pairing offence. Laval Rocket assistant coach Martin Laperriere would be very familiar with Beaudin's game should he end up there.
CHICAGO RECEIVES: CAM HILLIS
Hillis took a patient route to OHL Guelph, having spent his 16-year-old season at St. Andrew’s prep school. He checked all the boxes having played for Canada in the U17’s and U18’s wrapped around a near point per game season as a 17-year-old in 2017-18 (his draft year) with the Storm.
An extremely hard worker, Hillis exhibits enough responsibility in his game to be played in a number of situations. He’s good in the faceoff circle, plays with his head up and doesn’t cheat the game. While he has the traits to be an effective PK player, it hasn’t played out that way over his time in the pro game.
From a skills perspective, he rates out as average. Hillis is a player who has to work hard to create offence. This is a player who needs to find consistency in his health that will allow him to establish his place in a lineup, be it at the AHL or ECHL level.
Because he has high character, he will usually be afforded the benefit of doubt when it comes to his place in an organization. I would compare Hillis to a smaller, less skilled version of Reese Johnson. Having said that, there is no one dynamic element to his game that screams NHL.
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