In a tweet from TSN’s Frank Seravalli, he reports that other clubs have told him Montreal Canadiens defenseman Greg Pateryn is available for trade. Apparently GM Marc Bergevin sent out a note to the league advising as much, though Pateryn remains in the lineup for the Habs tonight against the New York Rangers. As Seravalli notes, this should come as a surprise to no one. Montreal has had a logjam on the blueline since acquiring Nikita Nesterov from Tampa Bay, with Pateryn sitting out frequently.
Tonight he’ll be in the lineup instead of Nesterov perhaps for a bit of a showcase before the deadline but more likely because the Tampa Bay defender hasn’t impressed lately and played only 12 minutes on Saturday. New head coach Claude Julien will need to find some trust in one of the defenders, or risk having to learn even more on Shea Weber and company.
For teams around the league, Pateryn may look like a worthwhile addition as a six or seventh defenseman. He has some interesting underlying possession numbers, and provides a big body on the back end. While he is by no means a game-changing addition, his relatively low cost may be of some interest. He’s owed just $800K this season and next, before becoming an unrestricted free agent.
It certainly doesn’t help that his wife made comments on twitter insulting Therrien and Julien.