Oilers Acquire Desharnais From Canadiens For Brandon Davidson

Per TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie, the Montreal Canadiens have dealt David Desharnais to the Edmonton Oilers for Brandon Davidson. The Canadiens also retained 20% of Desharnais’ contract as well, according to ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun.

With the move, the Oilers grab a center they were seeking, who can slot in anywhere from second to third. In 31 games for the Habs, Desharnais had 10 points (4-6). Davidson has just one point in 28 games.

TSN’s Ryan Rishaug tweets that he’s been 47% in the circle, but injuries limited him this season. Additionally, he apparently fell out of favor with head coach Claude Julien. As for Davidson, the Edmonton Journal’s David Staples wrote an article last year praising the young defenseman. ESPN’s Scott Burnside agrees, writing that the Habs acquired “a promising defenseman”. Hockeybuzz’s Mike Augello argues that while the Canadiens have another depth defenseman, they are still in need of scoring.

Desharnais, though he fills a hole for the Oilers, has seen his performance steadily declined writes Spector Hockey’s Lyle Richardson. The move will ease the burden on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, making it flexible to flip-flop him between a second and third line center.

Renaud Lavoie was the first to report the trade. Pierre LeBrun was the first to report the contract details.