With Joel Edmundson returning to the lineup, the Montreal Canadiens find themselves in a challenging situation roster-wise. Fortunately for them, Evgenii Dadonov was put on injured reserve (IR) with a virus on the day Edmundson was activated for play, temporarily giving the Habs some space. However, Dadonov is due back next week, and to keep the team at the 23-man maximum, a move will have to be made – Montreal would prefer a trade than to send a young player to the Laval Rocket. Here is a look at some Canadiens players that could be moved within the next week or so.

1. Jonathan Drouin

Jonathan Drouin has been a polarizing player since he was acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning for top prospect Mikhail Sergachev. Sergachev has gone on to develop into a top-four defender, winning two Stanley Cups, while Drouin has not lived up to expectations and has been injured for most of his tenure in Montreal. Drouin is in the last year of his contract of $5.5 million and will be a free agent (FA) at the end of the season. You would expect him to come out flying this season and do whatever it takes to earn a good contract for next season but that hasn’t been the case so far. He has only two points and has been in regular rotation as a healthy scratch on game days.

There probably isn’t a high demand for Drouin, but he could be effective on a team with good secondary scoring. If general manager (GM) Kent Hughes can work out a deal with a team like the Colorado Avalanche or Washington Capitals, he could probably find a good fit for Drouin. Hughes is in a tight position, and the other GMs know it; odds are he will have to eat some of Drouin’s salary, which wouldn’t be all that bad because it will come off the books at the end of the season.

2. Evgenii Dadonov

Dadonov was acquired from the Vegas Golden Knights for former captain Shea Weber’s contract. There were expectations for the annual 20-goal scorer that he could see once again score at a 20-goal pace and fetch a good return at the deadline because, like Drouin, he too is on an expiring contract. Unfortunately for the Canadiens, he has yet to score a point in eight games this season and is now on the IR with a mysterious virus, but he is due back soon and could find himself with a new organization when he does return.