If Kent Hughes cannot find another young top talent, there might be a couple of veterans he could look to in Pittsburgh...
In the latest edition of the 32 Thoughts Podcast, Elliotte Friedman and host Kyle Bukauskas discuss, among other things, a couple of potential trade targets for the Montreal Canadiens. The Sportsnet insider reports that Kent Hughes is leaving no stones unturned in his quest to add a top-six young talent (in their 20s) to the squad, but it’s proving to be a tough task despite the GM being very aggressive. Friedman mentioned that Kirill Marchenko would have been a possibility, but it’s been reported that he isn’t moving right now. As for the big trade offer that has been discussed, he adds that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, suggesting that what Montreal considered a great offer might not have looked so great to the other team.
He also reports that Montreal hopes Zachary Bolduc can give more than he has so far, and that they could still work with Oliver Kapanen to develop the center further, but he wouldn’t be surprised if the Finns had been included as part of the package offered. That in itself is not surprising, especially since Hughes has shown in the past that he is willing to move young talent if he believes that makes his team better. Alexander Romanov and Emil Heineman were both traded that way. He also threw an idea out there:
Someone else told me, you know who they thought might be a good fit in Montreal? And I have no idea if it’s even possible: one of those two Pittsburgh wingers, Rust (Bryan) or Rakell (Rickard). I think those guys would have to approve, but he looked at Montreal and said: “I thought with another scorer like one of those two guys, they might look pretty good”.
According to Puckpedia, Rakell has an 8-team no-trade list modified no-trade clause but Rust has no trade protection. While the idea is not silly, Rust put up 65 points in 72 games last season, and Rakell had 48 points in 60 games; I think that would be a plan D or E for Hughes. Both of these wingers are significantly older than the Canadiens’ core; the former is 34, while the latter is 33, and Hughes has repeatedly stated that he wasn’t looking to add veterans who would impede the development of his younger players.
If it gets very late in the offseason and Hughes cannot find a dance partner that would allow him to have a top-six twenty-something player, that may be an option he would turn to, but it definitely wouldn’t be his preference. They could be good stopgap options as they both have two seasons left on their contract, but stopgap to what?
Who in the Canadiens’ system could be ready to step into a top-six winger role by then? Alexander Zharovski? Perhaps his KHL contract will run out at the end of the season, but will he be ready to jump into such a high-profile role right away? That’s not guaranteed. And then there’s also Michael Hage, who should join in the Spring, once the Michigan Wolverines have (hopefully) won the Frozen Four.
Would it be wise to put two green rookies on the top six right away? Some would argue that it wouldn’t be, but that’s precisely what Montreal did this past season with Ivan Demidov and Kapanen, and it worked quite well until the playoffs at least. Would the two be as NHL-ready as Demidov and Kapanen were? At this stage, it appears somewhat doubtful…
Back to Rust and Rakell, though, it remains to be seen if they could be as productive in Montreal as they have been riding shotgun with Sidney Crosby in Pittsburgh. They do have plenty of offensive talent though.
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