The Montreal Canadiens tried to be active at the deadline, but ultimately, they couldn't make any moves, and for GM Kent Hughes, that's nothing to worry about.
It was a quiet trade deadline day for the Montreal Canadiens. Fans and media alike spent the day monitoring trades that were happening around the league and rumours about the various players that were reportedly available, and when the deadline came and went with no word from the organization, many hoped they had a trade in the queue with the NHL, but that wasn’t the case. Last year, when the Canadiens also stood pat on deadline day, by 2:00 PM, the media had been advised that the GM would be doing his presser at 3:00 PM on the dot. But this time around, there was nothing but silence, even when the communications department was repeatedly asked when Hughes would speak, which led to speculation. Finally, at 4:20 PM ET, the GM addressed the media.
When asked why the Canadiens had not struck a deal, the man in charge explained that he had spent a lot of time on one deal that didn’t come to fruition. He said it would have been a significant trade but added that he could revisit it in the summer, which indicates that the player or players he was after had not been traded elsewhere. Unsurprisingly, the media sought more details, but he declined to say which position he was trying to bolster before adding that we might know this summer.
Asked if he was worried about direct rivals making moves and improving, he shrugged off the notion and explained that he couldn’t make deals that would have been detrimental to his long-term plan, which is to make the Canadiens a perennial contender. If he had made a short-term move, he would have had to evaluate the impact on the current roster now and in the future, in light of the players they currently have and those they have coming.
Relating a conversation with another GM, he mentioned he was told that one of the things he needs and can’t buy is experience; you need to give that experience to the players, it’s an opportunity that lies ahead for this group. Whereas bringing in older players deprives some of your younger players of that experience.
Of course, Hughes didn’t mention specific players, but it certainly sounds like he has no interest in bringing in experienced players who would hinder his team’s development. The likes of Nazem Kadri and Ryan O’Reilly don’t seem to be on his wish list. It feels like he wants to bet on homegrown veterans rather than go out and bring in older players, as the Toronto Maple Leafs did with Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau. Given how the Leafs’ plans turned out, who can blame him?
Nick Suzuki is now 26 years old, and he has playoff and Olympic experience. Brendan Gallagher is 33 years old, and he’s lived through a lot. He has 76 playoff games of experience, including a run to the Stanley Cup final. The same goes for Philip Danault.
As for the fact that he was unable to trade Patrik Laine, the GM explained:
Patrik is a member of the team, like all our other players, and he isn’t a distraction. He hasn’t been so far; he’s available to the team, and it’s up to the coaches to decide who plays from one game to the next.
He also added that the Canadiens didn’t need to trade him if they weren’t making a trade since they didn’t need cap room, but that they did work with his agent to find a solution for him. It’s easy to understand why the GM wants to emphasize that Laine won’t be a distraction, but he unfortunately will be, since Martin St-Louis will likely spend the rest of the season explaining why he’s not playing. It’s hard not to feel for the Finn, though; he’s in the last year of his contract and has only played five games. It doesn’t look like he’ll get an opportunity to show that he can still play.
While the GM agreed that the price to pay for players on the market was pretty high, he added that it wouldn’t have prevented him from making a deal had he found the right player for the team.
Asked how his team would feel about the fact that he wasn’t able to get any outside help before the deadline, Hughes smiled and said:
I felt like I was the principal in a high school or in an elementary school where a bunch of students had screwed up. Every time I walked out, everybody put their head down. I don’t think anybody was looking to speak to me today. So, I feel like one, it means that our players are happy to be here and that they’re happy with the group. They’re not ignoring the fact that we made significant moves since the end of last season, with the acquisitions of Noah [Dobson] and Zach [Bolduc], and then, with Phil Danault, we just did it earlier, not at the deadline.
Interestingly, Hughes also revealed that there were a couple of trades explored in which the Habs were on the player’s no-trade list, but they were from a previous time and would now be willing to waive if a deal came through. From that, the GM concluded:
So, I think there’s a recognition around the league that we’re heading in the right direction, but we understand that we’ve got to keep moving the ball forward to get where we want to be.
Asked what his team is capable of right now, the GM said that, looking at the team’s record since the 4 Nations Face-Off, it’s been a pretty good hockey team, but that they are even more confident now than they were then, they are more confident as a team that with a year’s experience, they’re more ready for what’s coming once you make the playoffs.
While Hughes praised how close his group of players is, he’s aware that when he makes changes, there’s a chance there will be some traction within the group. The Habs brass likes that all the players like the group, but it won’t paralyze them and prevent them from making deals.
The main takeaway here is that the Canadiens believe in what they are building and want to keep building the right way, with age-appropriate players that will grow together rather than rental players who will hinder the core’s development. The way Hughes spoke about the one deal he put a lot of energy into that didn’t come to fruition makes it sound like it might have been something equivalent to the Dobson trade last summer—a big deal to address an area of need. If I had to guess, my money is on a deal like Robert Thomas from the St. Louis Blues. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Tricolore stole the show again with a big trade at the next draft, but we’ll have to wait and see…
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