When the Ottawa Senators traded Brady Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers for a truckload of futures earlier this week, it didn’t feel like the pressure was mounting up for Montreal Canadiens GM Kent Hughes. After all, Tkachuk was in the division before and was staying there. Of course, a rival got better, but one could argue another got significantly worse at the same time. That was before Tuesday’s trading mayhem, though.

The Senators made another move on Tuesday. They knew they needed to replace their former captain in the lineup for the upcoming season, so they used some of the draft capital they got from the Panthers, sending the ninth overall pick to the San Jose Sharks to acquire William Eklund, Kasper Halttunen, and prospect Brandon Svoboda. While Eklund doesn’t have the same playing style as Tkachuk, their offensive production isn't that different, and, of course, it will be interesting to see how he does away from Macklin Celebrini. Still, the trade achieves what the Senators needed: getting back on track.

Meanwhile, the Buffalo Sabres, knowing that they couldn’t re-sign left-shot blueliner Bowen Byram, sent him and Jordan Greenway to the Chicago Blackhawks in return for the fourth overall pick, the 45th overall pick at the upcoming draft, and 6-foot-8 right-shot defenseman Louis Crevier. Somehow, Jarmo Kekalainen managed to barter the former fourth-overall pick, who had already been traded once, for a fourth-overall pick in a deep draft. Granted, Crevier’s 25 points don’t quite measure up to Byram’s 42 points, but he’s still a right-shot D with a big body.

Furthermore, a player rumored to be of interest to the Canadiens, Jordan Kyrou, was sent to the Washington Capitals in exchange for Connor McMichael, Milton Gastrin, and the 16th overall pick in the next draft. That wasn’t exactly a king’s ransom, but more importantly, that’s a door that’s now shut for the Canadiens.

It’s also worth noting that another right-shot defenseman who was rumored to be on the move was traded on Tuesday. The New Jersey Devils sent Simon Nemec and Maxim Tsyplakov to the Calgary Flames for two first-round picks (in 2027 and 2028), a second-round pick at the upcoming draft, and Etienne Mornin. Nemec was the second-overall pick at the 2022 draft, right behind countryman Juraj Slafkovsky. The Canadiens weren’t really linked to Nemec, but it still makes the right-shot defenseman market barer than it already was.

There were quite a few areas the Habs needed to improve this offseason: a second-line center, a right-shot defenseman, more physicality on the bottom six, and that was before the Panthers, the Senators, and the Sabres made significant moves to improve their lineups. It wasn’t exactly easy for the Canadiens to get out of the division in the playoffs; they needed seven games to rid themselves of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Buffalo, and what has happened so far this offseason won’t make coming out of the Atlantic an easier task. In other words, the ball is now squarely in Kent Hughes’ court. Will he watch the parade go by, or will he hop on? Canadiens fans have been accustomed to Montreal making moves in the offseason; Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook, Sean Monahan, Patrik Laine, Noah Dobson, and Zachary Bolduc all became Habs during the summer. Who’s next? Or is anybody next?

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