The Montreal Canadiens are struggling right now and everyone is wondering what GM Kent Hughes could do to help his team, including TVA Sports host Jean-Charles Lajoie.
There's been a lot of chatter about Montreal Canadiens GM Kent Hughes looking for help upfront and on the back end of late. Depending on who you ask, the Habs are looking for an attacker who plays with an edge or a top-four right-shot defenseman. However, TVA Sports' Jean-Charles Lajoie suggests another course of action.
The pre-game host believes Hughes should be looking for another deal with the Calgary Flames, not a small one. For him, the solution would be to send veteran forward Brendan Gallagher out west in return for St-Jerome native Jonathan Huberdeau.
The one thing that makes sense about this idea is offering Gallagher, but solely because his stock is higher than it has been in the last few seasons, and Hughes doesn't like to sell low. However, I don't see trading the alternate captain as a move that would help the Canadiens get out of their current predicament, especially not for Huberdeau.
It's not that Huberdeau isn't a good player, but let's be clear: he has fallen off a cliff since being traded to Calgary. He went from putting up a career-best 115 points in 2021-22 to 55 points in 2022-23 and 52 points in 2023-24. Granted, his production is set to get up this season judging by his eight points in 11 games output, but there's no guarantee he'll be able to keep that up.
Furthermore, Huberdeau may be younger than Gallagher, but only by a single year. He is signed to an albatross-like contract that has him earning $10.5 M for another six seasons after the current one.
We're talking about Hughes here, the GM who tried to sign Jonathan Marchesseault in free agency but wouldn't give him a pact long enough to please the player, and it was a much lower cap hit. I struggle to see how he could even entertain such an idea. Even with Carey Price's $10.5 M contract coming off the books after next season, it would make no sense to tie that much money in a player whose prime appears to be behind him.
It's also worth mentioning that if Hughes wants an edge up front, he really shouldn't look Huberdeau's way. The center is a talented and skilled player, but he doesn't bring that kind of game at all.
Finally, there's a reason why Gallagher's stock is higher right now: He's playing well and bringing a lot of much-needed leadership to this young group. That's without even considering his cap hit is $5 M lower than Huberdeau's, and his contract runs out much sooner after the 2026-27 season, while the Flames' forwards' contract runs through the end of the 2030-31 campaign.
Since taking the helm of the Canadiens, Hughes has pulled the trigger on a trade 30 times, and none of those deals were panic moves, which this one definitely would be. Bringing a struggling Huberdeau home would immediately make him an easy scapegoat for frustrated fans, he would instantly become the new Jonathan Drouin or Patrice Brisebois, depending on how old you are, but the point is, Hughes has a plan and going down this path would be like throwing it in the bin.
The big bucks the Canadiens will save when the Price and Gallagher contracts expire will be needed to sign players such as Lane Hutson and Ivan Demidov to long-term deals. When that's done, and the team is truly ready to contend, it will be time for Hughes to go big game hunting on the trade market or in free agency, not now.
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains
Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens