October 24, 2024 | 2:10pm ET
TheFourthPeriod.com

CANADIENS GM EXPLORING TRADE MARKET

Canadiens GM Kent Hughes

The Montreal Canadiens are looking to see progress from their team as they begin to take the next steps in their rebuild. But a 2-4-1 start to the new season may have fallen short of the type of start management expected out of the gate.

The team was dealt a tough blow when they lost off-season trade acquisition Patrik Laine from Columbus due to injury, but it appears GM Kent Hughes has higher expectations for this young group than their record reflects.

In the Thursday afternoon edition of “Early Trading” on TSN, Pierre LeBrun reported the Canadiens are exploring the trade market and seeing what is available out there.

It is rare for any impactful trades to take place this early in the season, but Hughes is evaluating his options and could perhaps act on some moves later on in the season.

“Kent Hughes has started to call around, doing his due diligence, at least getting a sense of what’s out there because I think the Canadiens would be open to making a move here that would help sort of shake up the make up a bit and help this team win some games,” LeBrun said. “The reality though is there is almost no trades at this time of year – we know that in the cap system. So, I don’t think there’s anything imminent for Montreal, but I think it’s noteworthy that the Habs aren’t just sitting there and saying, ‘Oh well, we’re off to a slow start, that’s life.’ No, I think that has fueled Kent Hughes to maybe make more calls than he might have this early in the season. We’ll see where it leads.”

LeBrun added that the Canadiens are not interested in giving away future assets, presumably for short-term fixes on the blueline. Two separate league sources told TFP earlier this week that Montreal may also try to add some two-way grit to their middle-six.

“A couple things that I’d have to point out. One is that the Habs aren’t going to mortgage the future in any kind of deal – the long term still trumps all,” LeBrun noted. “The other thing is that they’re right at the cap, so it’s got to be apple for apple, in terms of a salary coming in, a salary going out, which also adds to the difficulty of making that kind of trade this early in the year.”

The Canadiens currently have Laine and forward Rafael Harvey-Penard on LTIR and can create an additional $10.5 million in LTIR cap overage space if they place Carey Price on LTIR – at this point, they have not yet done so.