P.K. Subban Won the Predators-Canadiens P.K. Subban Trade

The Nashville Predators didn't win the trade.

The Montreal Canadiens didn't win the trade.

P.K. Subban won the controversial trade that sent him from the Canadiens to the Predators in June.

Some people say that less than a year after it happens is too soon to judge a trade, but those people are probably the people who lost the trade. They are probably the same people who say money doesn't buy happiness. You should be skeptical of these people, because they are probably lying to you in an attempt to con you out of your money.

But enough about Marc Bergevin.

It was ten months ago that Bergevin traded Subban to the Predators for Shea Weber. The heavy-footed defenseman had a great start to the regular season but hovered somewhere around ordinary during the second half. He was perfectly fine during the Canadiens' first-round loss to the New York Rangers but hardly a difference-maker.

Subban's regular season also had some holes in it, but most of that was due to injury. He also wasn't a huge factor in Nashville's first-round sweep of the Chicago Blackhawks—two assists in four games—but for the Predators to see these results in Year 1 of the deal while the Canadiens got outclassed by a Rangers team that had lineup debates involving Tanner Glass and Nick Holden speaks volumes about which franchise is in better shape.

It's not about goals, assists, points, or anything the individuals do or don't do during the regular season or playoffs. It's about where the organizations stand on the eve of round two, both in the postseason and in their philosophy.

Bergevin's decision to trade Subban for Weber marked a sharp change in the Canadiens' philosophy. That off-season also saw the Canadiens trade Lars Eller to Washington and pay a Heart Tax to sign Andrew Shaw to a six-year, $23.4 million contract. Talent was going to take a backseat to grit, toughness, and character.

To Bergevin's credit, he did not diverge from the plan during the regular season's trade deadline. Dwight King? Steve Ott? Andrea Martinsen? Jordie Benn? They would be the answer to the Canadiens' recent failings, even if the failing in 2015-16 had everything to do with Carey Price's injuries and nothing to do with Subban or any of the players who were sent packing between the end of last season and the middle of this one.

What did Shaw, King, Martinsen, and Benn do in the playoffs? They combined for as many goals and assists during the six games against the Rangers as Justin Trudeau.

In case my point wasn't clear, the Canadian Prime Minister registered zero points during the first round of the playoffs. He was completely nonexistent.

In a series that saw Price allow 12 goals in six games, the problem for the Canadiens was scoring. And really, who could have seen this coming when the team opted for large human beings without much consideration for their offensive abilities? Never before has an organization had such an easily identifiable problem at the conclusion of a playoff run that never got past the stretching phase.

So what did Bergevin have to say at the Canadiens' locker clean-out day Monday?

"I think scoring's at a premium in this league," Bergevin said.

Come on! Are the 2016-17 Canadiens the most elaborate Nathan For You prank ever? You completely transformed your team into one better equipped to win a tug of war than a hockey game by trading scorers for grinders, and now you're preaching about the rarity of offense in the NHL? If you're a Canadiens fan and you see your team get outscored 12-11 (empty-netters not included) in a six-game series loss, what's it like to see David Desharnais score an overtime winner for the Edmonton Oilers to help get them to the second round? Do you throw up in your hands or do you make it to the bathroom?

Once they dropped Glass out of the lineup for Pavel Buchnevich, the Rangers were the bizarro version of the Canadiens—a team almost devoid of grit, one relying on goaltending and scoring talent to carry the day. You'd think the Canadiens would be perfectly designed to wear that team down, but you'd be wrong.

Turns out, this isn't the CHL (Character Hockey League).

The Rangers went 3-0 once they inserted Buchnevich after Game 3. What could the Canadiens have done with a team structured to score goals instead of chase the puck and check? Would it have squandered Price's effort? Or would it have been enough to push them through to the second round and a very winnable series with Ottawa?

Keep in mind that Price is watching this all unfold before the final year of his contract. Does he really want to be part of a ship that Bergevin made so heavy it's on the verge of sinking? It's quite possible that when Bergevin traded Subban, he set in motion a course of events that could also cost the team its goaltender.

All this isn't to say that Weber is why the Canadiens lost to the Rangers, or that he was in any way bad this season. Rather, it's that Weber, who will be 32 at the start of next season, is emblematic of a plan that failed to make the Canadiens better and perhaps even made them worse.

Meanwhile in Nashville, how much is Subban loving life?

While the Canadiens bulked up like a high school freshman trying to make the varsity football team, the Predators are sleekly built for the modern NHL. When the Pittsburgh Penguins and the San Jose Sharks showed the world that speed throughout your lineup was the way to a title in the Stanley Cup Final last year, Predators GM David Poile was taking notes. The Predators are loaded with puck-moving defensemen, while the Canadiens are loaded with defensemen who are better equipped to help you move things like furniture and box springs.

To top it all off, Subban is four years younger than Weber. Even the most ardent supporters of the Canadiens' side of the deal would admit that the age difference meant Montreal would receive diminishing returns with each passing season. So if this is the landscape less than a year after the transaction, what will this mean for the Canadiens moving forward?

You can slice and dice the numbers of Weber and Subban. You can point to the Canadiens finishing this season with more points than the Predators, or you can point to the postseason success of the Predators, who have a real chance to get to the Stanley Cup Final in the wide-open West.

But based on the state of the franchises, one thing is not debatable: P.K. Subban won the trade.

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