August 31, 2024
It’s been one helluva summer for the Montreal Canadiens. Since the Habs finished at the bottom of the standings, and secured the fifth overall pick following the draft lottery, GM Kent Hughes has been a busy man.
It began at the draft. After packaging picks to improve on their second pick in the first round, things went exactly how Hughes and company hoped. Both Ivan Demidov and Michael Hage were property of the Montreal Canadiens when Friday night was done. Neither of those guys will help the Habs this coming season, but they almost certainly will for years to come.
Barely out of the draft, GM Kent Hughes made his first deal to unclog the defense group and traded Johnathan Kovacevic to the New Jersey Devils for a fourth-round pick in 2026.
Free agency opened and the Habs were relatively quiet, adding Alex Barre-Boulet to fill a depth role if he avoids being moved to Laval. After missing out on Jonathan Marchesseault, Hughes turned his attention to contracts.
The first overall pick from 2022, power forward Juraj Slafkovsky, was extended for eight years, solidifying his importance to the core. Hughes then dealt with restricted free agent defensemen Arber Xhekaj and Justin Barron before blue-liner Kaiden Guhle received a six-year contract extension. Tidy business.
Finally, Hughes dealt again from a position of strength, sending left-shot defender Jordan Harris to Columbus for Patrik Laine and a second-round pick in 2026.
If the Habs do nothing else, they will enter this next season a better team with the additions they made, maturation of the core they’ve locked up, and the return of Kirby Dach.
Hughes told Tony Marinaro this past week that they are not done building. Might they do more before 2024-25 season begins? Here are some ways the Canadiens might deal to improve their team further, and add the cherry on top of a sweet off-season to date.
Offloading a contract
As noted in my review of the status of the rebuild, the Hughes-Gorton duo inherited an undesirable contract situation, and several problematic contracts remain. In some cases, the light at the end of the tunnel is getting very close as their contracts expire at the end of the season. Others have years remaining.
With just one retention spot, it may be challenging for Hughes to move every pending UFA for value at the trade deadline. If an opportunity presents itself in the coming weeks, Hughes may choose to add to the stockpile of picks he’s been gathering this summer for the 2026 draft.
The most likely candidates may be Christian Dvorak and Joel Armia. A team looking for depth up front may be tempted to take a flyer on one of these guys since only a year remains on their contracts.
Dealing from a position of strength
Why not? Hughes has already made two deals of this nature this summer, having moved Kovacevic to make room for Barron and Harris in the Laine trade.
The Habs still have a lot of guys on the blue line. If they play Guhle on his strong side, they’re looking at a depth chart of Matheson, Guhle, Hutson, Xhekaj, and Struble. If they play Guhle on the right, there is less depth with Guhle, Savard and Barron. But what would happen if Barron, Mailloux and Reinbacher all have strong enough camps to force their way into the line-up?
The other area I’m paying attention to is centre ice. Hughes confirmed Suzuki and Dach would both play C in the top six. We have assumed Newhook would move to the wing on Dach’s line, but what if the coach liked what he saw from Newhook last season playing the pivot between some combination of Roy, Armia and Gallagher? Now imagine guys like Beck or Kapanen have a strong camp. Would that make Dvorak or Evans dispensable?
Making a hockey trade
The Canadiens traded for Laine and we assumed that was the big deal we waited for all summer. But then we heard they were one of the teams in on Askarov. Does that mean they’re looking for a goalie? I don’t think that is necessarily the case. I think it means Hughes is prepared to make a hockey trade any time an opportunity presents where he can improve the team.
Who has been on the trade block but not yet dealt? A guy like Kaliyev comes to mind. Which teams are less than comfortable heading into the season? Are the Lightning comfortable with their depth at centre?
Timing is everything
At this late juncture, most teams will not be prepared to make a deal until they see what happens at training camp. Laine and Askarov were guys whose teams did not want to bring to camp. There may be other teams having similar thoughts, but most are in a position where they’re waiting to see how their roster shapes up at camp.
The Habs have guys to deal if the opportunity presents itself, and it would not be surprising to see Hughes make another trade before the puck drops on another season. There might still be a cherry on top.
Hab At Her 
I’d say Habs have had a banana split level offseason (that’s a very tasty one). All that’s missing is the cherry on top. I say bring it on. I think the weakest spot on the upcoming roster is #1 right D. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Habs bring in someone to anchor the right side of the D.
This team could now be further along than previously expected in it’s rebuild with the addition of Laine. HUGO may seize this opportunity by acquiring a top pairing right D allowing Guhle to play on his strong side. The kids can play in Laval this year and hopefully make a push for the playoffs.
There could be more fireworks yet to come and the Habs certainly have the draft capital to get a deal done sooner rather than later.
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Hi LoriI’m all
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Excellent work Lori…one can’t help but feel sky high expectations for this franchise (over the long term…not necessarily this year…but you never know, we might be pleasantly surprised this year as well). Seeing all the moves summed up into a nice little package as you have done was wonderful reading. Thank you so much. 😊
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