Common supervisor (GM) Kent Hughes is thought for being energetic and making calls to his NHL counterparts, trying to gauge the market on who is on the market and what the commerce values of gamers might be. Due to this, Montreal will at all times be linked in a roundabout way to the commerce market. Nonetheless, the group does have wants, and the flexibility to stay affected person for prospects grows smaller with every passing month.
Associated: Canadiens Have to Method Commerce Deadline With Lengthy-Time period Plans in Thoughts
The Canadiens’ rebuild is ongoing, and whereas they’ve a deep prospect pool that boasts gamers in each place, there may be nonetheless a obtrusive want for centre depth.
Canadiens’ Centre Dilemma
Presently, Montreal has a top-line heart in Nick Suzuki, nevertheless, the depth behind him is inadequate to make the membership a real playoff contender, but. As of February 2025, there aren’t any true top-six centres accessible to the Canadiens. Jake Evans has crammed that position on and off this season, and whereas he’s having a profession season in targets and factors, he isn’t a top-six centre on a playoff membership. Ideally, he would fill the fourth-line position on a contending group and has been closely linked to the commerce market. Then there may be Christian Dvorak, who like Evans, is an unrestricted free agent (UFA) on July 1. Additionally, like Evans, Dvorak will not be a top-six heart.
However what about Kirby Dach it’s possible you’ll ask? Effectively, he hasn’t been capable of finding his footing as a dependable centre on the NHL stage with Montreal. With 10 targets and 22 factors in 54 video games, his offensive manufacturing has been inconsistent, and so has his defensive play and his effectiveness generally. Add in his 40.6% success price within the faceoff circle, which is an enchancment general from earlier seasons, and he doesn’t appear in a position to turn into the centre Hughes had hoped he may turn into. That isn’t to say he can’t be a top-six ahead, it simply means it’s wanting way more probably that it will likely be as a winger.
Past him, the one different inside choices to fill that second-line position fall to Owen Beck and Michael Hage. Beck is in his first skilled season and Hage is just a freshman on the College of Michigan, and whereas each have good potential to turn into high quality middle-six facilities, neither is predicted to achieve that stage for just a few extra seasons.
That’s the dilemma, an absence of inside choices at centre. Offensively, nevertheless, there may be hope on the horizon as Ivan Demidov is on his approach. He’s burning the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) offensively, setting data for beneath 20-year-olds. However he’s additionally on tempo for 57 factors this season, which might be sufficient to beat the document for many factors by an under-22-year-old participant in that league. The present document holder is his teammate Alexander Nikishin who had 55 factors at age 21, in his fourth season.
That is what superstars appear to be.
Once they appear to be this of their draft 12 months, after which they appear to be this of their post-draft 12 months… they flip into superstars almost each time.
Montreal probably has a FRANCHISE nice of their arms right here with Demidov. https://t.co/nJDEzZseEy pic.twitter.com/JJZQgHlD7c
— Byron Bader (@ByronMBader) February 5, 2025
Whereas the expectation is to see Demidov enter the NHL and make a direct constructive influence offensively, he’ll must be correctly supported, and ready for a few of the different high prospects to become high quality NHL centres isn’t possible to assist in that endeavour.
The Commerce Market
Based on NHL Insider Kevin Weekes, the Canadiens are among the many a number of NHL groups which were inquiring a couple of doable commerce involving Buffalo Sabres ahead Dylan Cozens. He’s a 23-year-old centre with good dimension (6-foot-3 and 212 kilos), in addition to excessive offensive upside, however resulting from a current dip in manufacturing, there are some questions that may must be answered. Based on Marco D’Amico at RG.org, sources indicated that the Sabres aren’t simply trying to do away with Cozens.
“They’re going to need a vital established piece or a high-level asset they’ll flip for one,”
– An RG.org Japanese Convention supply near the scenario
To try this, Hughes would want to incorporate one in all his 2025 first-round picks, but in addition, probably add a younger participant off of the roster. The query is, who can be thought-about expendable to finish that sort of deal or to fill that recognized want at centre? Solely two years in the past, on Feb. 7, Buffalo signed Cozens to a seven-year extension paying him $7.1 million per season. Whereas he hasn’t lived as much as the hope of that deal to date, it isn’t all his doing. The 23-year-old isn’t having his greatest season to this point. Solely two seasons in the past, nevertheless, he had a 31-goal and 68-point output whereas taking part in in a second-line centre position. The final two seasons have seen a discount in offensive manufacturing, not solely from him however his complete group. Cozens’ 1.8 factors per 60 minutes of five-on-five ice time would place him third on the Canadiens behind the highest line of Cole Caufield (2.81, good for second within the NHL), Suzuki (2.29) and Juraj Slafkovsky (1.95).
Buffalo has had gamers who went on to success after the Sabres comparable to Jack Eichel, Ryan O’Reilly, Sam Reinhart, and Brandon Montour. Had they been in a position to maintain onto these gamers and tried extra to construct round them, they could not have ever been within the dilemma they’re in now. Can their lack of success on the ice or in participant improvement all be blamed on “tradition”? No, whereas an absence of a profitable tradition might be a part of it, it’s the franchise’s lack of stability within the entrance workplace that holds many of the blame as they by no means had somebody on the helm lengthy sufficient to establish and purchase veterans to insulate their younger gamers that match their philosophy because the GMs had been modified too rapidly for a rebuild philosophy to take root.
Now, the Sabres are in want of a step again, figuring out their core, and on the lookout for property to encompass them. Montreal has these forms of property with picks and younger gamers, but in addition veterans with playoff expertise and even some which have time period left on their contracts that might be added to any package deal.
Future Canadiens
There’s a danger versus reward side that Hughes should rigorously discover due to Cozens’ current dip in play. Whereas the Canadiens’ GM has proven a penchant for playing on reclamation tasks comparable to Dach as an illustration, that also needs to present him some pause, or on the very least, demand the endurance to totally discover any potential deal, particularly the fee in property misplaced and the influence they may have in addition to the extra wage he would incur bringing Cozens in.
Maintaining the entire dangers in thoughts, the Canadiens will must be extraordinarily cautious in what property they use to accumulate anybody in the event that they do make a commerce. That’s as a result of there may be nonetheless the necessity to add to the prospect pool, and with that, they do have their eye on a possible homegrown expertise that may turn into a top-six NHL heart in Caleb Desnoyers. The younger Moncton Wildcats centre is slated to go within the high 10 on the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, so Montreal will probably have to package deal up their very own first, and sure one other high quality asset, to maneuver up just a few spots to pick him.
It could be useful to proceed to make use of property to commerce up so as to add top-end talent. Whereas the Canadiens’ prospect pool is taken into account very deep, Hughes won’t be able to maintain everybody within the system, so utilizing property to commerce up for gamers which have larger potential ceilings, but in addition larger flooring, signifies that the depth of that pool is lessened, however the potential NHL influence is improved.
