If the Canadiens go shopping for an NHL roster player, the best currency they can bring to the table is futures.
That was the crux of the discussion on The Staar & D’Amico Show, where Marco D’Amico laid out the reality of Montreal’s position: the Canadiens have the kind of prospect assets that can get attention, but not necessarily the kind of NHL-ready depth that makes a deal easy to finish right now.
Starr framed it plainly, asking whether Montreal’s roster strategy puts them in a spot where, if they want one of another team’s NHL players, “the best we can kind of do are our futures, and, and whether it’s a (Michael) Hage or a (Alexander) Zharovsky or a (Jacob) Fowler or whatever, no?”
D’Amico’s answer went straight to the timing issue.
“The issue is how soon can these guys get to the NHL.”
From there, he drew the line between where the Canadiens’ core is and where the next wave of talent stands. In his view, the core moved faster than the prospect pool, leaving Montreal in a tricky middle ground. The second wave was supposed to be arriving later, but the team’s NHL group got there early.
“And I feel like we talked about this: the Canadians’ prospect pool and the Canadians’ core. The core evolved faster than the pool, the second wave of that prospect pool was ready to, to make its way into the NHL. I think they, you know, they’re a year ahead of where they were supposed to be, and unfortunately the prospects are not.
And so that means you know, would a full season in the NHL make David Reinbacher an attractive piece? You bet your bottom dollar.
Does seeing Michael Hage play in the NHL make him a more valuable asset? I think so.
Does Zharovsky coming over from Russia make him a more valuable asset? Absolutely.
But does that also make other players that are playing in the NHL more expendable, like an Alex Newhook? Like, you know, we talked about Kirby Dach, like, if he comes back to form.
Alex Texier, you know, Oliver Kapanen. That’s what I’m talking about.
Where it’s NHL-ready pieces with upside. That’s what teams are looking for.
And right now, the Canadians don’t have a plenty of them. And the teams that do have those kinds of big-name fish that the Canadians are looking at aren’t in a hurry to trade them right now.
But I will say one thing.”
That last point led into a familiar Montreal wrinkle: the Canadiens have a history of surprising people when they decide to strike.
“The Canadians have made a nasty habit, which has come in my detriment, by the way, because they did this twice on my honeymoon. But they have a nasty habit of making these trades that no one sees coming. In, in August, they have a nasty, nasty habit, or the beginning of September, as we saw with Carey Price.”
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The appeal from the Canadiens side is straightforward enough: they have been looking for a right-handed defenseman who can handle meaningful minutes, and the proposal being kicked around would address that need while forcing Montreal to decide how much value it is willing to attach to Xhekaj. Depending on how the deal is structured, the price could climb beyond a simple one-for-one swap, which is exactly why this has become one of those talks worth watching rather than dismissing. [Read more 🡒]
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NHL Expansion Buzz Just Put The Nordiques Dream In Jeopardy
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For Montreal followers, the significance goes beyond another market on the league map. If Houston is indeed the destination, it would make the long-discussed idea of the Nordiques coming back look even more remote, even if the NHL has not made anything official yet. For now, it is still just buzz, but it is the kind of buzz that can change how people talk about hockey in Quebec. [Read more 🡒]