To say the Montreal Canadiens have been active in the last couple of weeks would be an understatement. The Sainte-Flanelle completed three significant trades: acquiring Noah Dobson and Zack Bolduc and climbing up in the second round of the draft to land Alexander Zharovsky, who was the player they wanted to pick in the first round before trading away their two picks. All that activity doesn’t mean Montreal is done, however; something else could be on the way.
Speaking on the Basu and Godin Notebook, the executive vice president of hockey operations, Jeff Gorton, addressed the concern of those who believed that trading Logan Mailloux to get Bolduc meant they didn’t have many trading chips left. Asked if they had enough left to make other trades this off-season, Gorton replied that they still have a lot of good prospects in their prospect pool, adding that they have a lot of good young goaltenders.
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He said it before the draft, the Canadiens always have their ear to the ground to know who’s available and what could happen on the trade market. Since the draft, the Habs have been rumoured to be interested in St-Louis Blues’ top-six forward Jordan Kyrou. Even though his no-trade clause has kicked in, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he won’t be moving; he could still agree to a trade and waive the no-trade clause.
In the latest edition of the 32 Thoughts Podcast, Elliotte Friedman revealed that the Seattle Kraken had bowed out of the Kyrou talks, believing it was because the asking price was too high. If that’s the case, does it mean the Canadiens would have to give up a good roster player to land him? Probably, and the question then becomes, would the deal be worth it? Or could the Canadiens have something else in their prospect pool that would be enough to entice St. Louis to trade with them again? Perhaps, after all, Gorton certainly seems confident that there’s enough in there to make another deal.
I know that people sometimes refer to the off-season as the dead of Summer, but I’m not ready to say the Canadiens have gone on holiday just yet…
Photo credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
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