When is this trade Made? If it's made at the TD and Montreal is in a playoff spot, I would say Montreal would do it.
If It's made now, Montreal says no

In my mind it would be in either two scenarios: Trade deadline where Montreal is in a playoff spot. They should say yes to the deal. Or at the end of this month or next month of they keep rolling or are fringe. But to make it easier for anyone viewing, I have the deal being made anytime soon. In that case, it is too risky for MTL to trade their first.

Just changed the title to deadline deal. Should make it a fair deal then...

As suggested above, it far too risky trade for Montreal dangling that first. If Montreal is in playoff contention, maybe the Habs should just dance with the players on their roster and not parachute in players. Even with Duchene, how likely it it for the Habs to even win a playoff run.

Changed the title to deadline deal to imply the idea of a playoff spot. The idea by Montreal is not just this year but in the future as well. One can only assume they owuld improve with Duchene and could add pieces in the off-season but then I remembee Ottawa and Edmonton...

It might be best for Habs for to sign Duchene as UFA, (away from Ottawa) and keep their assets by not making a trade. Gee, if Montreal did that, the centre might be looking pretty good.

Or perhaps some sort of protection. Top 10 Protected. Anything else and it's fair. I like the deal. Duchene is a legit #1 C and would really turn Montreal around

Also depends on if it's a sign and trade or just a Rental. The price would be severely less for a rental, Montreal would probably have little to no interest if that were the case

I don't see a reason for Duchene to do a sign & trade. If he's months away from UFA at that point, why not just wait and get the contract/team that you want? Also, is there any certainty that Duchene would want to sign away the rest of his prime years with Montreal? Remember, he requested a trade from COL because he didn't want to be part of another rebuild. It's not clear that MTL is going to be a contender for the next years. If MTL really was a high target for Duchene, I think he would choose to target them in UFA and not rob his future team of assets.

He is well aware of Montreal's situation. He knows they truly need a 1C and they would contend. I'm sure he listens to the hype about how Montreal is playing right now, He knows Price is a Franchise goalie and Montreal has a solid core group of guys who are same age/younger than Duchene so the team will contend throughout the 7/8 years he signs. But I do agree with you on the FA thing