The trade deadline is looming and our Montreal Canadiens are sellers. Which players would you like to see moved, and what would you expect the Canadiens could get back for them?

Editor’s Note: We asked our panel for their thoughts before Marc Bergevin traded Dale Weise and Tomas Fleischmann to the Blackhawks on Friday evening. 

Kyle (@kyleroussel) – Before being injured, I was on my knees praying for a new home for Desharnais and Gilbert. Two guys that this team doesn’t need. Moot point now. I think they need to strongly explore moving Emelin, Weise, Smith-Pelley, Flynn, Fleischmann, and possibly Markov. If the price was right I’d also see what Eller or Plekanec could bring back. If someone was willing to give up a 1st round pick, I’d pull the trigger and address the hole at C in the summer. I would NOT move both players now.

This time next week, I expect this team to look a lot like it does today, minus Weise, Smith-Pelley, and maybe Emelin, if a team is desperate for a hard-nosed D. If the Leafs netted 2nd round picks for Spaling and Polak, I’d expect nothing less for those 3 guys.

Sean (@TheONeillFactor) – My guess is that Bergevin is a shark when he’s a buyer (remember Vanek?) but pretty timid as a seller.

All-in-all, in fact, that’s probably a desirable combination for a GM. But the only good thing that can come out of this lost season is the possibility to shed some dead weight and cap-space and re-tool for 2016-2017 with a top-10 pick and some free-agent pick-ups joining the Price-Subban-Pacioretty-Gallagher-Galchenyuk-Petry core.

That means, as far as I’m concerned, that no one else is untouchable; Weise, Gilbert and Fleischmann are as good as gone but the mid-round picks we’ll get for each aren’t exactly game changers. For the right price, I’d be happy to bid adieu to the following:

Markov: His best days are behind him but he could still be an asset for a Cup contender (Washington? Dallas?). I’d swing him for a first and a third.

Eller: The skating personification of mediocrity still (bizarrely) has his defenders, but I’ll be doing cartwheels if and when we finally ship him out of town for a 3rd round pick.

Plekanec: This one is tough. Really tough. But if a contender thinks that Pleks is the missing piece (and he could be, on the right team), I’d be willing to trade him for a top pick and a prospect.

Beaulieu: Beaulieu would likely be on most people’s untouchable list, and it’s easy to see why; he’s young, cheap, and talented. But as the centrepiece for a bigger deal, I think I’d be willing to sell-high on the former first round pick. Bealieau and change for Yakupov? Sign me up.

This is all wishful thinking though, of course. My guess is Bergevin ships off Weise et al and holds steady with the rest of the roster.

Kyle (@kyleroussel) – My nightmare scenario in all of this is that Bergevin sits on his hands and does nothing, as he’s done while this season circled the drain. Then, after all of the other sellers dump their assets for sweet returns, Bergevin addresses the media and tries to tell us all that he couldn’t get a good return for his available assets. I think that would be a disaster. This team has so few legit prospects in the AHL that he has to do something to address it during this lost season. And if he and his brain trust don’t see this as a lost season, I’d be very, very afraid of what’s going on on the 7th floor of the Bell Center.

Sean (@TheONeillFactor) – I think this is not only the nightmare scenario but the most likely scenario. Bergevin’s patience is an asset 90% of the time, but he doesn’t appear to be particularly well-suited to handling adversity like we’ve seen this season.

He’ll move the bit players and hang on to the real trade chips, all in the name of the process.

Kyle (@kyleroussel) – The process, and “the plan.” You’re right – his patience helped to bring stability back to the franchise, and I wonder if he thinks staying the course is some form of leadership during troubled times. I think this season exposed how weak his team is once you get beyond Price, as mind-boggling as that sounds. Young leaders struggling with the pressure? Maybe. But it seems like everything went in to the crapper;  Scoring (and luck) dried up. Goaltending stunk once Price went down. Attitudes started to change, as is natural with chronic losing. I’d be shocked if Bergevin thinks this season was just a sequence of unfortunate events that couldn’t possibly repeat themselves. There’s a flaw in this team and he needs to address it.

Ian (@ihabs1995) – Sean makes a good point here. We’ve seen Bergevin do some pretty good things as a buyer, but we’ve yet to see him as a seller. I’m anxious to see what he’s able to do.

As far as players go, Dale Weise is all but traded and he has some interest. He’s a Matt Beleskey – type player who can score big goals in the playoffs, but is limited in offensive upside. Hopefully Bergevin can convince some one that Dutch Gretzky is worth a 2nd round pick.

Also, it was reported by Eric Engels of Sportsnet that Lars Eller is officially on the market. Of course you can make of that what you will, but I wouldn’t mind seeing Eller traded. His cap hit is too high for his level of production as a career 3rd line center and, maybe I’m wrong here, but I think Bergevin and Therrien might be showcasing Eller by playing him with Pacioretty. Maybe inflate his value just a bit more. Bergevin is going to shed some salary with an Eller trade and add a pick or two. Who knows?

Bold prediction? Bergevin gets Emelin to waive his no trade clause and he is traded to a contender. Look, if I’m Marc Bergevin, I sit Emelin down and tell it to him straight. “Your no trade clause ends next season. I will trade you then. Why not go out and play some playoff hockey this year? Certainly won’t be playing any here.”

And if Beaulieu is traded, we riot, right? Cool.