Nine Years Later, Lightning Still Fleecing Canadiens on That 2017 Deal

Some trades age like fine wine, and some age like a bottle of milk left in the sun - and Tampa Bay's 2017 swap with Montreal is looking increasingly like the former. The Lightning have built sustained success partly on the back of that deal, while the Canadiens continue to wonder what might have been. This is the kind of trade that gets rehashed in front office meetings for decades, the one that separates the sharp GMs from the ones who get fired.