It does not happen often, but this could be the year we see the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens do business together before the NHL’s trade deadline on March 7.

Recently Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli suggested Canadiens third-line centre Jake Evans was a perfect trade target for the Maple Leafs, and floated a return of a 2025 second-round pick, along with prospect Roni Hirvonen. A very reasonable asking price for Evans, a 28-year-old native of Toronto, who is the long coveted right-handed defensive-minded centre the Maple Leafs have been trying to track down.

Evans is a rental, as he’ll earn $1.7 million against the cap this season, and is a pending unrestricted free agent. However, considering the fit with the Leafs as their 3C, being in the prime of his career, and that he’s from the area, an extension is not out of the question. So, he makes a ton of sense as a trade target. But, Evans isn’t the end game here, that’s where things could get interesting between these two teams.

What about defenceman David Savard being included in the package? The 34-year-old right-handed blueliner is also a prime trade candidate out of Montreal, as he’s another pending free agent. Savard earns $3.5 million AAV, and so far this year, has recorded 11 points in 50 games, along with an impressive 122 blocked shots. Like Chris Tanev, that’s Savard’s specialty. Savard is as defensively sound as they come. He’s won a Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay in 2021, and recently, hasn’t been traded from the bottom-dwelling Canadiens the past couple of seasons, due to the fact he’s having such a strong positive influence on Montreal’s young defencemen.

Savard is willing to do whatever it takes to win, and Evans is cut from the same cloth. They are both penalty-killing specialists, who lead the Canadiens in shorthanded ice time for forwards and defencemen, on a penalty-kill unit that’s ranked 8th overall in the league. The Maple Leafs rank 13th, and this is something Treliving should consider upgrading heading into the trade deadline. Especially considering how banged up Auston Matthews is, and perhaps it would help if he doesn’t see the ice as much shorthanded, and can get back focused on finding the back of the net.

Back to Evans, he’s a great skater with a powerful stride, having 123 bursts of between 20-22 mph on the ice. To give you an idea, Mitch Marner has just 57. Evans also has won 53% of his faceoffs this season and is shooting an impressive 19.6%, as his 11 goals have come on just 56 shots. Selective, that’s for sure. Given his makeup, his style of play, the fit, the contract, and the potential of an extension, Evans is a prime trade target for the Maple Leafs.

While Seravalli suggested Evans for a second-rounder and a former 2020 second-round pick in Hirvonen, if Savard is included, the asking price goes up, and so does the complexity of this pre-deadline deal. Combined, the Canadiens’ duo makes $5.2 million, and frankly, the Leafs don’t have that kind of cash available under the cap. Especially when Calle Jarnkrok and his $2.1 million contract get healthy down the stretch. So, how can Treliving make this deal work?

It starts with David Kampf. The fourth-line centre is making $2.4 million AAV through the 2026-27 season, and while he has a 10-team no-trade clause, playing in Montreal is normally something most players approve. Add in Conor Timmins, who has shown some strong play through stretches this season, and could be someone Canadiens GM Kent Hughes gives a look to in Savard’s spot for the rest of this season. Timmins is owed $1.1 million this year and is a restricted free agent this summer. Team control appeals to GMs, so adding him in shouldn’t hurt the Leafs’ chances.

With Kampf and Timmins involved, that gives the Leafs $3.5 million off their books, but, at the end of the day, Treliving is likely going to need Hughes to retain some of Savard and Evans’ remaining salaries to give this deal a remote chance of materializing. It also feels like if Savard is included, Montreal would ask for Nikita Grebenkin to come the other way instead of Hirvonen. As long as Easton Cowan or Fraser Minten aren’t involved, Treliving should be open to trading just about any other prospect.

Looking back, the last trade the Habs and Leafs completed together was back in 2018, when Montreal sent Tomas Plekanec and Kyle Baun to Toronto for Kerby Rychel, Rinat Valiev and a 2018 second-round pick. While the return doesn’t sound like much, Montreal eventually moved Valiev in a package for Brett Kulak, who then was moved for a 2022 second-rounder, which resulted in the Canadiens drafting stud defenceman, Lane Hutson. However, Treliving isn’t worried about these types of scenarios playing out, he’s trying to win a Stanley Cup this season in Toronto and should be going all-in to do so.

February 25, 2018, was the last time the Maple Leafs and Canadiens did business together. Seven years later, if a trade is facilitated between these two historic franchises, Evans and Savard could end up in blue and white.