Two top-six center are currently on the market and they could be interesting fits for the Montreal Canadiens. Is the solution to the Canadiens' center line conundrum in Boston or Calgary? Who'd be the better fit? Pavel Zacha or Nazem Kadri?
On Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday night, during the Montreal Canadiens and Vancouver Canucks duel, Elliotte Friedman discussed a couple of centers who could be on the market on the Saturday Headlines segment.
The case of Pavel Zaccha, a Boston Bruins player, was discussed. The Bs surprised everyone when they started the season with a three-game winning streak before crashing back down to earth and losing their next six games. They won their latest game on Saturday against the Colorado Avalanche, but they are still 15th in the conference and 27th in the league. In other words, they could be in the running for consensus first-overall pick, Gavin McKenna.
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There was talk in the offseason that the market was slow because teams were waiting to see how their rosters would perform before deciding whether to sell the farm. According to Friedman, the Canucks are very interested in acquiring Zacha because they have their own center-line conundrum. Still, it wouldn’t be the first time the Canadiens flew under the radar to acquire a player if Kent Hughes were to look that way.
We wrote in May about how Zacha could be a fit in Montreal, and that remains true. The 6-foot-4 and 212-pound center is in the third year of his four-year deal with the Bruins and has a $4.75 million AAV, while the Habs already have $4.6 million in cap space, according to puckpedia.
Last season, he had only 47 points in 82 games, but this season he already has 9 points in 10 games, which is a 74-point pace over 82 games. He’s unlikely to keep up that pace, having never scored more than 59 points in a season, but he could fit in with the Canadiens’ timeline. By the time his contract is over, at the end of the 2026-27 season, Michael Hage may be ready to make the jump. Who knows, though? Perhaps he could slide in nicely and end up signing long-term with the Canadiens?
The other player discussed was Nazem Kadri from the Calgary Flames. The Alberta outfit is struggling mightily this season and is dead last in the league with three points in nine games. They’ve lost eight consecutive games, and Friedman explained that if they want to go after McKenna, they may start unloading players, but Kadri won’t move until he’s played his 1000th game.
The 35-year-old is still doing well; he’s had 56, 75, and 67 points in his last three seasons, but he’s no stranger to the minus column. While that stat doesn’t always tell the whole story, in this case, it’s fair.
Kadri has three years left on his contract after this season at a $7 million AAV, and by the end of that contract, he may not be pulling his weight anymore due to his age and could potentially stand in the way of a younger player’s progression. The pivot has a 13-team no-trade list, but having already played in two Canadian markets, it wouldn’t be surprising if he were willing to join the Habs.
A one-time Stanley Cup champion with the Avalanche and Alex Newhook, Kadri knows what it takes to win. Still, he’s also had problems in the playoffs in the past, getting suspended at the worst of times, and that was part of the reason why the Toronto Maple Leafs traded him.
The way I see it, Kadri has got the potential to be more productive than Zacha, but the Bruins’ player is a better fit contract and age-wise. To be clear, Friedman didn’t say the Canadiens could be after either player, but as Jeff Gorton said in the past, when a player becomes available, the Habs do their due diligence. Given the circumstances, when they do, they may think one of these two could be the solution for their top six. Furthermore, a player of that caliber would be a better fit than Joe Veleno and could allow St-Louis to have four productive line and move Kirby Dach to the wing.
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