Montreal Canadiens Linked to Robert Thomas

The Montreal Canadiens will be looking to add at Friday’s trade deadline. One name to watch for them is St. Louis Blues forward Robert Thomas. Thomas is a name to watch for a lot of teams, with the Utah Mammoth, Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, and others linked to him.

The Blues are likely to want three solid assets with top-half first-round draft pick quality. If the Blues decide to trade with Montreal for Thomas, they are reportedly interested in Michael Hage, the Canadiens’ 2024 21st overall draft pick, who plays at Michigan and currently ties for the NCAA lead in assists. They are also reportedly interested in defensemen such as David Reinbacher and Adam Engström. The Canadiens would also need to include a first-round pick as the final piece, but if they make the playoffs and that pick falls outside the top 15, they may need to add a second-round pick to complete the deal.

The deal may have a hiccup as the Canadiens would be over the cap with the trade laid out the way it currently is, which means likely they will move Patrik Laine’s contract at the deadline as well to make this deal line up, or the Blues may need to retain a little bit of the contract, not much either one to two million makes it work.

Thomas is under contract until the end of the 2030-31 season and carries an $8.125 million AAV cap hit. He also has a no-trade clause, so he will have to approve a trade if the Blues can come to an agreement on one.

Purchase tickets via Ticketmaster

Robert Thomas

The St. Louis Blues drafted Thomas 20th overall in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. He made his debut on October 4, 2018. He recorded his first point a week later, on an assist on October 11th. Thomas scored his first career NHL goal on November 21st. He finished his rookie season, appearing in 70 games, recording 33 points on nine goals and 24 assists. He was a minus-two with three power-play goals. Thomas also won the Stanley Cup in his rookie season, appearing in 21 games, recording six points on a goal and five assists. He was a minus-two and had a 44.1 faceoff percentage.

In eight seasons with the Blues, he’s appeared in 509 games, recording 431 points on 119 goals and 312 assists. He is a +46 with 26 power-play goals, seven shorthanded goals, 19 game-winning goals, and a career 51.6 faceoff percentage. In 52 career Stanley Cup Playoff games, he had 26 points on six goals and 20 assists. He is a minus-nine with a power-play goal. Thomas has played 43 games this season for the Blues and has 35 points on 12 goals and 23 assists; he’s even in plus/minus with three power-play goals and two shorthanded goals. He is also 52.4 percent at the faceoff dot this season.