Two Montreal Canadiens names are back in the trade conversation, and both carry the same kind of tension: they’re useful now, but their futures in Montreal are far from settled.
Lyle Richardson of Bleacher Report put Kirby Dach and Samuel Montembeault on his latest NHL trade board, a sign that the chatter around both players has only grown louder as the 2026-27 season gets underway.
Dach landed at No. 4 on Richardson’s list. The big forward is on a one-year contract he signed with Montreal during the offseason, and he is a pending unrestricted free agent.
That combination makes him an obvious name to watch if the Canadiens decide he is not part of their long-term picture. Dach already opened his season with an assist in Montreal’s first game, and last year he put up eight goals and 15 points in 37 games.
Montembeault came in at No. 6, and his case is just as easy to understand. He, too, is a pending unrestricted free agent, and Montreal also has young goalie Jacob Fowler waiting in the wings. Montembeault was a frequent topic in trade speculation over the summer, so seeing him on the board is hardly a shock.
Last season, Montembeault played 25 games for the Canadiens and finished with a 10-8-4 record, a 3.43 goals-against average, and an .872 save percentage.
For now, both players remain in Montreal. But with their contract situations and the noise surrounding each of them, their names aren’t going away anytime soon.
In Other News...
Canadiens Young Core Is Getting Serious Respect Around The NHL
Around the league, the Canadiens young talent is drawing a level of attention that goes beyond the usual prospect buzz. San Jose captain Macklin Celebrini recently put together his top five NHL players under 23, and Montreal had two names on the list in Lane Hutson and Ivan Demidov. Celebrinis praise for the pair underscored what has become hard to miss for anyone following the team: the skill level is real, and the ceiling around this core keeps rising.
It is not just one young player earning respect, either. Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby has also pointed to Juraj Slafkovsky as an important piece for Montreal, which only adds to the sense that the Canadiens are starting to look more than promising on paper. For a fan base that has waited through plenty of rebuild talk, the growing acknowledgment from established stars is a meaningful sign that this group is beginning to force its way into the conversation. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens Suddenly Have A Sam Montembeault Decision With Real Stakes
Sam Montembeaults place in the Canadiens crease has gone from straightforward to complicated in a hurry. After entering camp as the backup behind Jakub Dobes, the veteran has already given Montreal reason to think there is still value there, thanks to a strong preseason and the kind of proven NHL track record that keeps a goalie on the radar even when the depth chart starts shifting around him.
For Montreal, the next stretch matters because the team is no longer just sorting out a backup job, it is weighing what Montembeault can mean as an asset if the organization decides to move in another direction. His performance over the season could shape whether the Canadiens are looking at a meaningful return or a far more modest outcome, and with goalie depth always a fragile thing, the decision carries more weight than a typical roster shuffle. [Read more 🡒]
Kent Hughes Went Further Than Fans Realized For A Top Forward
Montreal spent much of the summer looking like a team willing to push beyond the usual lines in its search for help up front, and a new report suggests Kent Hughes was even more aggressive than many fans realized. According to Elliotte Friedman, the Canadiens made a real run at adding a top forward and were among the leagues most active teams as they tried to keep building the roster with an eye on impact talent.
The pursuit went beyond a simple one-for-one pitch, with Montreal exploring creative trade ideas that involved other clubs in an effort to get something done. But Columbus did not bite on the proposals, leaving the Canadiens to keep searching for another way to add the kind of scorer they clearly had in mind, and likely to revisit the same market again when the next window opens. [Read more 🡒]