Managing trade assets efficiently is important in any rebuild, so getting the best return from Montreal’s forward group requires some careful planning. Here is a look at some possible trade assets for the Canadiens.

With a little patience, rebuilt scoring lines can be filled internally so while there are plenty of veterans on Montreal’s roster now, there shouldn’t be for too much longer.

If Montreal can open up some cap space over the coming days, there’s a Carolina restricted free agent that could be of interest if the Canadiens want to think of retaliating for losing Jesperi Kotkaniemi to an offer sheet last summer.

If Kent Hughes’ game plan wasn’t clear enough at last season’s trade deadline, what he did at the recent entry draft and during the qualifying period for restricted free agents are pretty good indications of what kind of a rebuild he plans on overseeing.

We’ll find out soon enough if the Habs are picking first in the upcoming draft in July. But even if the lottery doesn’t go their way on Tuesday, they’re still going to land a very good prospect.

As the Habs look to add some prospects between now and the trade deadline, adding a quality young centre with an eye on having that player fill the longer-term void created by the departure of Jesperi Kotkaniemi should be a goal for Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton.

As the Habs make their wish list for prospects to try to add as they move more players out in the coming weeks, there are a number of fine French-Canadian forward prospects around the league for them to look at.

As the Habs look to stock their prospect cupboard over the next few weeks, right-handed defenders should be on Montreal’s radar and there could be some good ones available at a price the team can afford.