Once again, pieces were in motion in the NHL yesterday, and one particular move might just spell good news for the Montreal Canadiens.
There has been a lot of action in the NHL over the last few days, including many big names being moved. But among Brady Tkachuk, Bowen Byram, and Alex Tuch, there was also a minor deal involving the Florida Panthers and the Philadelphia Flyers.
In a deal announced on Friday morning, the Panthers sent a fifth-round pick at this draft and a fourth-round pick at the 2027 draft to the Flyers in return for depth forward Garnet Hathaway and a sixth-round pick at this draft. Philadelphia is also retaining 50% of Hathaway’s salary, which is sure to help the cash-strapped Cats. The right wing has one year left and had a $2.4 million cap hit. With the salary retention, he will count for only $1.2 million against Florida’s salary cap.
This trade, coupled with the fact that Pierre Lebrun indicated earlier this week that A.J. Greer intended to hit the market, makes it highly likely that Florida elected to find him a replacement before he even signed elsewhere.
This is good news for the Montreal Canadiens as Greer is exactly the kind of player who could bolster the Habs’ bottom six. Of course, he might not come cheap since he’s coming off a career year, putting up 32 points in 78 games, almost doubling his 2024-25 output, which stood at 17 points in 81 games. He’s 6-foot-3 and 209 pounds, he’s got a big body, and he knows how to use it. In 2025-26, he landed 203 hits, and the season before, 222. He’s not just big, he plays like it as well, and if someone wants to drop the gloves, he’s not opposed to answering the bell.
His last contract, which was good for 2 years, and had a $850,000 cap hit. Clearly, he will be looking at a considerable pay bump since his asking price was too high for the two-time champions to meet. While he may want more money than Kent Hughes will be willing to give him, it’s definitely worth making a call to his agent come July 1.
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