Kent Hughes didn’t land the offseason swing he was chasing, but the Montreal Canadiens clearly aren’t done hunting.
According to NHL insider David Pagnotta, Montreal is still kicking the tires on just about every major name that surfaces in trade chatter. On DFO Insider, Pagnotta said the Canadiens have been involved on a wide range of superstar targets and that Hughes has kept himself plugged into every possible development.
"Montreal Canadiens from my understanding have been in or are in on pretty much every superstar/star that has been remotely discussed," Pagnotta said. "Kent Hughes has done a fantastic job in making sure that he knows every detail with respect to who is or will potentially be available."
That kind of report fits the way Montreal has shown up in rumors over and over again. The Canadiens were heavily involved with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Kirill Marchenko before he ended up with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but that one never got over the line because Montreal didn’t have what Columbus wanted.
Dylan Larkin is another name that keeps coming back to the Canadiens, and Pagnotta made it sound like the hold-up there isn’t on Montreal’s end. If Larkin were open to coming to Montreal, Pagnotta said the deal would be done "within hours."
Even with all the center talk around the Canadiens, Pagnotta suggested that middle-of-the-ice help may not actually be the main target. Outside of Larkin, he said Montreal’s pursuit has leaned more toward wingers than centers.
"I've talked to a lot of people around the league as most recently this morning and they've all indicated that Kent Hughes and his staff want to go after a really big fish. Now the interesting thing is, outside of Larkin, I don't know if that's a center position player because Marchenko and Knies, both wingers. They tried and kicked tires on [Jordan] Kyrou, they tried on Robert Thomas but center not being the primary objective from the sound of things."
That doesn’t mean the Canadiens don’t have room to improve at center. Alex Newhook has handled the job well enough in place of Oliver Kapanen to start the season, and his line with Josh Anderson and Chris Kreider has shown signs of life, including two of Montreal’s four goals against Washington.
Still, there’s also a longer-view piece to this. Montreal probably doesn’t want any trade to box out Michael Hage, who figures to be in Montreal before the end of the season.
If the target is a winger, then the lineup puzzle gets even more interesting. The Canadiens already added Kreider right before the season, and they still have Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Ivan Demidov waiting in the mix once he returns from injury.
For now, though, the bigger point is simple: Hughes keeps pushing. Montreal may not have landed its splash yet, but the chase is very much alive, and the roster sitting here today may not look the same once the trade deadline arrives later in the season.
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