Montreal Canadiens GM Kent Hughes Needs To Look To AHL Rockets For Help – Hockey Writers – Montreal Canadiens

Thursday, Oct. 24 edition of TSN's Insider Tradinghost Gino Reda and hockey insider Pierre LeBrun had a conversation that should make Montreal Canadiens fans' ears perk up. The segment (starting at the 3:03 mark) revealed that Canadiens general manager (GM) Kent Hughes has been driving GM's brothers around the league. Montreal is not playing well and the injuries are piling up. Is a trade imminent? Should one happen? Let's talk.

Habs Hurt, Rebuild Slow

As a friend Hockey Writers Montreal writer Ryan Szporer explained in his October 24th column, Montreal has been bitten by injuries in this early stage of the 2024-25 campaign. This reflects the team's fortunes over the past few seasons. Cole Caufield was unable to finish 2022-23. Kirby Dach did not play at all in 2023-24. Patrick Laine is a Canadiens player but won't be seen for another few months. Carey Price is still getting paid even though he hasn't been on the ice since the end of the 2021-22 season.

Related: Canadiens' depth will be tested this week

None of this helps the rebuilding of the franchise, a rebuilding that has been going on since the ice melted under the post-Cinderella Stanley Cup in 2021. No playoffs since then, and many bad campaigns with a whisper of young talent being used and developed. it was the norm. Also, many games like the 7-2 loss to the New York Rangers on Oct. 22 happened more than the fans could have cared about.

There's a difference between losing in the spirit of competition and losing in ways — consistently, at that — that always leave the door open for fans to wonder: “What on earth is the plan?”

GM Kent Hughes Makes Calls

With bodies dropping like flies, a 2-4-1 record (last place in the Atlantic Division) and a minus-10 goal differential (fourth worst in the NHL), Hughes is calling teams, according to TSN hockey -LeBrun. LeBrun is one of the best and most trusted voices in the business so we have no problem taking his word for it.

That's a very interesting development for a few reasons, which the TSN vet points out in the segment. For one thing, October trades rarely happen, at least not big ones that make headlines. Second, Montreal won't give up on their potential future by trading for youth or opting to win more games now. Finally, the cap situation is critical. According to PuckPedia statistics, the Canadiens are expected to have a negative $3.113 million at the end of the season.

As for the bank account, there is no wiggle room here. The crisis is equally complex from a strategic point of view. Hughes would have to find a player on the roster as a plausible scapegoat for the team's recent failings (not scoring enough, not playing defense, expensive, etc.) and point to a player on another team's roster for a salary. the same amount and is said to fix some of the Habs' problems.

It's not an impossible but rather complicated endeavor to try in October. Who, arguably, isn't carrying their weight these days? Center Alex Newhook has one point and a minus-7 rating, though he has been effective in drawing six penalty minutes (second best on the team among forwards). Center Christian Dvorak has one point, minus-6, but is a good blocker with seven. Defender David Savard, 33 years old, is minus-8.

Even assuming those end up being trade bait, who do the Canadiens really get by bringing back such players? Furthermore, who is worth around $2.9 million (Newhook), $4.45 million (Dvorak, not to mention the modified no-trade clause), or $3.5 million (Savard)? That's a lot of scouting and fiscal gymnastics before November.

Laval Rocket to the Rescue

It's times like these that an American Hockey League (AHL) ambassador can come in handy. Montreal is located north of the city across the Prairies River, Laval Rocket.

AthleticArpon Basu, who covers the Canadiens for that edition, often praises that of Joshua Roy. he can bring to the team. Roy saw action in 23 games last season, scoring four goals and adding five assists in an average of 12:09 ice time. Alex Barré-Boulet saw action in the preseason and was a starter in the first two games before being sent to Laval. If Hughes feels the need to shake up the defense, 2021 fourth-round draft pick William Trudeau is a blueliner who has spent the past few seasons developing with the Rockets.

There are options available to the Habs to change lineups and defensive pairings without committing to a trade yet. The question is: should the Canadiens go on the Rockets' roster for an immediate fix? The truth is, as of October 25, Montreal is six points behind the Florida Panthers in the Atlantic Division. No one is seriously comparing those two clubs as equals, but the point is that there is still time to really find out what the current team is worth. The Rocket is there for a reason, but it could be bad early on.

The next seven days can reveal what head coach Martin St. Louis needs to do what his team needs to do. They will welcome St. Louis Blues on Saturday, they are a decent but not great team. On Sunday, they visit the struggling Philadelphia Flyers, who have three points out of five in Montreal. On Tuesday, October 29, they host the hot and cold Seattle Kraken, and on Halloween night, the surprising Washington Capitals come to town. Are Caps real or not? If the games against any of those teams or, heaven forbid, all of them, are as bad as what fans have seen recently, then the Canadiens should seriously consider calling up the Rockets.

Even though the playoffs are more of a fantasy than a real goal in 2024-25, the campaign cannot and should not be interrupted in late October or early November. The fans, who represent the club through thick and thin, deserve better than to know before the first snow falls that their team is still a lost ship at sea.