Marc Bergevin had deal in place to ship out Artturi Lehkonen at last trade deadline
The Montreal Canadiens were reportedly almost without Artturi Lehkonen this season. According to Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports, former GM Marc Bergevin had a deal in place with the St. Louis Blues to get forward Samuel Blais in exchange for Lehkonen, but there was an issue.
The Blues apparently wanted Lehkonen, who would have been an Restricted Free Agent at the end of the season, to sign a new deal immediately. Lehkonen was not willing to do that, and the trade never materialized.
Lehkonen, 26, ended up signing a one-year deal with the Habs after their run to the Stanley Cup Final for $2.3 million. He will remain an RFA at the end of the season. Blais was traded to the New York Rangers in the offseason, and is currently out for the season after tearing his ACL in a collision with P.K. Subban on November 15th.
The failed move, according to Lavoie, was an attempt to make the Canadiens tougher for the playoffs. Blais was also born in Quebec, so likely would have been a big fan favourite on the ice.
MUST READ
TRENDING NOW
|
LIVE
MAY 6, 2026
| ||||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Josh Doan | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Ryan McLeod | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Zach Benson | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Bowen Byram | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Kirby Dach | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jordan Greenway | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jansen Harkins | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Beckett Sennecke | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mark Stone | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nick Suzuki | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Zachary Bolduc | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ivan Demidov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jack Eichel | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Chris Kreider | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ryan Poehling | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mattias Samuelsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Juraj Slafkovsky | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Troy Terry | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Shea Theodore | - | 1 | 1 | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||