The Canadian | Cartridges of Kent Hughes

The Canadian and his general manager Kent Hughes will be closely observed this week in Las Vegas. Obviously due to the draft, the first round of which will take place on Friday, but even more so because the Habs could be particularly active on the transaction market. Overview of the main cartridges of the DG.

The fifth pick of the first round

For the third year in a row, the Canadiens will be on the podium early on Friday, holding the fifth overall pick. Experts disagree on which players will be selected by then, but there will certainly be a very talented skater still available who will please Montreal management. It would be surprising if they wanted to get rid of their main asset, but Kent Hughes could be seduced by an irresistible offer from a club that desperately wants to advance, or from an even better-positioned club that would be willing to move back a few spots. However, it is reasonable to expect that the team will keep this pick.

The 26th^e first round pick

This one, we can imagine, is part of many discussions. After the top 20and even more after the top 25, choices often change hands. Last year, from the 24^e au 32^e rank, only three picks were made by the team that originally held them – picks 28, 29 and 31 were even traded twice. The trend is the same in 2024, with five picks in the 25-32 range having already been involved in at least one trade. It was precisely by selling Sean Monahan to the Winnipeg Jets that the Habs inherited the 26^e choice. The Hughes-Gorton administration thus arrives at its third straight draft with a late first-round pick. He used the first in 2022 (Filip Mesar, 26^e rank) and traded second in 2023 (for Alex Newhook).

One or more other choices

The Canadian arrives in the city of vice with no less than 12 draft picks. Easy prediction: he won’t add 12 players to his reserve list. We can therefore assume that some of these choices will be used to improve an exchange offer, to convince another GM to accept a player whom the CH would like to get rid of or simply to replenish the bank of choices of a club which does not doesn’t have one, for example Vegas (no choice in rounds 2 to 5), Tampa (none before 4^e tour), Vancouver and Florida (no choice of 1^is and 2^e round), or even Dallas (no choice of 2^e au 6^e round). In the past, Montreal has liquidated late picks by trading them for equivalent picks from the following year, but it would be surprising if that happened again this time, since the Flannel already has 12 selections in 2025.

A veteran on defense

For months, we’ve been saying that Kent Hughes will end up trading at least one defenseman, and it’s hard to believe that there’s a real untouchable player in the current lineup, with the possible exception of Kaiden Guhle. Michael Matheson’s name has been mentioned by various media outlets in the hypotheses surrounding Martin Necas of the Carolina Hurricanes. Indeed, a defenseman who has just amassed 62 points and who earns less than 5 million on average for two more years is bound to attract attention. In a different cast, David Savard could also generate some demand – this was apparently the case at the trade deadline in March. However, he and Matheson have in common that they are Quebecers and the only veterans on a squad that is still very green. Unless they make a substantial return, they are probably more valuable in Montreal than elsewhere.

A young, experienced defender

In Justin Barron, Jordan Harris and Arber not clear. We could add to this list Jayden Struble, who played 56 games in 2023-2024, and Johnathan Kovacevic, who despite his 26 years is not overflowing with experience in the big league. Individually, Harris, Struble and Kovacevic would be worth a modest return, so it would be more likely to see them included in a more elaborate trade. Xhekaj, one can imagine, is already more attractive, to the point that one will doubt his real availability. Barron, finally, appears to be the most obvious candidate for a transaction, being without a contract and having to be subject to waivers starting next season if the organization wishes to sell him to the minors.

A high-ranking prospect in defense

By including the names of David Reinbacher, Lane Hutson or Logan Mailloux in a transaction, the Canadiens would strike a major blow. But will they go that far? We can doubt it from a club in reconstruction. However, the real targets that other teams are aiming for are those, especially if the CH is eyeing a young forward for its top 6. Reinbacher, 19, was one of the most prized defensemen in last year’s draft. Hutson is preparing to make the jump to the pros after being dominant offensively in the NCAA. And Mailloux adapted instantly to the American League in 2023-2024.

Joel Armia

He’s not a player that fans in the four corners of the NHL dream of. But Armia has just achieved a harvest of 17 goals in 66 matches, and above all he has regained the superb which had earned him to sign the four-year contract which will expire at the end of the next season. If a manager is looking for a big third or fourth line winger who excels on the penalty kill, he might be tempted to turn to Armia rather than commit for several years, and perhaps for more money, with another player of the same type on the free agent market.

Christian Dvorak

Within the Canadian’s offensive hierarchy, he seems to have become the excess center player, especially with the emergence in this position of Alex Newhook last season. He also has only one year left on his contract, and it is doubtful whether he is part of the organization’s future plans. At 4.45 million, however, it will take a person with deep pockets, and one might even think that a draft pick would have to be included in the transaction for it to materialize. The American, in fact, has been often injured over the last three years, and he has never established himself as a player capable of creating attack with regularity, without being a pure defensive expert. For the sake of argument, let’s mention that he’s from the Chicago suburbs, and the Blackhawks are swimming in salary space. However, it is not known whether this team is one of the eight listed on the no-trade list attached to his contract. Let us also point out that for the CH, given its financial room for maneuver, it is not urgent to get rid of veterans in attack, whether it is Dvorak, Armia or another.