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I really like the Eric Staal trade. What’s not to like? You give up third- and fifth-round picks in this year’s NHL draft for him. That’s what we in the biz like to call a bag of pucks in the technical jargon.

Even better, the Buffalo Sabres have agreed to pay half of his US$3.25-million salary. And in return the Canadiens get a seasoned centre with grit and skill, and he also scored more goals last season than any of the current Montreal Canadiens’ centres did.

Of course the grumblers are saying he’s a super old dude, that it would’ve been a great trade in 2010 and so forth, and there might have been a time when I would’ve joined the peanut-gallery chorus of naysayers. But that was then, this is now. The bottom line is the Habs are a better team today with the addition of Staal, even at 36, and it basically cost the team nothing.

But let’s not go overboard here. This is not a game-changer. It is a good move and it helps Montreal down the middle. And he’ll provide a boost in the playoffs. Count on it. So it’s all positive.

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What it does underline, however, is how weak the Canadiens remain at centre. Staal scored 19 goals last season with the Minnesota Wild and none of the current Habs centres matched that total.

Phillip Danault scored 13 goals in 71 games last season. Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored just six goals in 36 games last year and he was demoted to Laval midway through the season because he was playing so poorly. Nick Suzuki also had 13 goals in 71 games last season. Jake Evans had two goals in 13 games last season. This season, Danault has two goals, Kotkaniemi has four, Suzuki has seven and Evans has two.

Clearly, Staal isn’t tearing up the scoring charts and he has only three goals this season on a horrible Buffalo Sabres team.

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But this is a trade with no downside for the Canadiens. And Staal is old, but it’s hard not to think of another chap in the same age group, Corey Perry. Perry is 35 and originally meant to be part of the taxi squad. This elderly player has become a key member of the team, albeit on the fourth line, and he’s shown that his hands are as soft as they ever were. Like Staal, Perry is going to be a force to be reckoned with in the playoffs.

The real news flash here is that you may not have believed me before, but this is just the latest confirmation that Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin is all-in this season. He needs his team to make some noise in the playoffs and this is one more move to try to make that happen.

Bergevin knows his job is on the line. He needs to make the post-season, though at this point I think that shouldn’t be a problem because none of the three teams below the Habs in the North is likely to catch them. But the Habs need to win at least one round if Bergevin is going to survive and adding Staal makes that more likely.

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The funny part of the trade is it comes just a day after Bergevin yet again stated that he wasn’t thinking of making any significant deals because he was up against the salary cap. I’ve been arguing for a couple of weeks that Berg would be making a deal or two no matter what he was saying and I’d say the wheeling and dealing probably isn’t finished for the dashing GM.

So turns out he wasn’t completely transparent with us media wretches. No biggie. As a friend quipped to me the other day, after a news conference where he said the same thing: “What do you expect him to do? Give you his bank PIN number?”

GMs play their cards close to their chest and no GM is more circumspect when it comes to leaking information than Bergevin. Remember, in June 2016, when he was telling anyone that would listen that P.K. Subban was most certainly not on the trading block and that he wasn’t shopping his star defenceman? I know you remember. So do I. A few days later, he made the blockbuster move that sent Subban to Nashville in return for Shea Weber.

So you might want to take Bergevin’s comments about potential trades with not a grain but rather a large container of salt.

bkelly@postmedia.com

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