A blockbuster trade may be closer than anyone realized for Kent Hughes and the Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are making calls, and according to Pierre LeBrun, they are calling everyone. GM Kent Hughes is reaching out to every team that has a center or a right-shot defenseman available, trying to get a feel for the market this offseason.
LeBrun made the comment Saturday on Melnick in the Afternoon, and the detail that stood out was the word "every." Not a few calls. Not some quiet preliminary feelers. Every team with the right asset.
That kind of blanket approach usually means one thing: Hughes knows exactly where this roster is thin, and he is not pretending otherwise.
The Canadiens finished the regular season at 48-24-10, 106 points, third in the Atlantic. They beat Tampa Bay in seven games in Round 1, knocked out Buffalo in seven in Round 2, and then ran into Carolina, who ended their run in five.
That last series exposed something real. Montreal was held scoreless in Game 4 at home and gave up six goals in the series clincher on the road. The Hurricanes dominated the last two games.
Kirby Dach availability and Dobson's playoff slide make the search urgent
Kirby Dach played only 37 regular-season games. That number alone explains a big chunk of why Hughes is on the phone.
When your second-line center is limited to 37 games, you are essentially playing the stretch run and the playoffs without a reliable second pivot. That is what the Canadiens did, and it caught up with them.
Noah Dobson, acquired last summer to solidify the right side of the blue line, had a rough playoff. He appeared in 13 games post-season and posted 0 goals and 1 assist, going -7. At a $9.5 million cap hit, that performance is a problem heading into next year.
That is a lot of money tied to players who either were not healthy or did not deliver. The math forces Hughes into finding cheaper, more reliable depth rather than a blockbuster swing.
Nick Suzuki still anchors the top of the center depth. He finished the playoffs at 4 goals and 12 assists over 19 games and went -8, which is not what you want from your $7.875 million franchise center in a playoff exit. He is not going anywhere. But the drop-off after him is steep.
Think of it this way: the Canadiens' center depth right now looks like a mountain peak followed immediately by a valley. Hughes needs a hill somewhere in the middle.
The right-shot D market search makes equal sense. Lane Hutson, who posted 78 points on the year and 16 in the playoffs, shoots left. Michael Matheson is a left shot. So is Kaiden Guhle and Jayden Struble. Alexandre Carrier shot right but contributed zero power play points this season.
The Canadiens are young, which means their best window is likely still a year or two away. But you do not reach that window by standing still after a Conference Final exit.
Whether Hughes finds his center or his right-shot D in a trade, a free agent signing, or both, remains open. What LeBrun's report confirms is that the search is active, aggressive, and already moving.
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YESTERDAY
JUNE 6, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Mitch Marner | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| Tomas Hertl | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jordan Staal | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Shea Theodore | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Brayden McNabb | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Taylor Hall | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jordan Martinook | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Andrei Svechnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jackson Blake | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jack Eichel | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Seth Jarvis | - | 1 | 1 | |
| William Karlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Eric Robinson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jaccob Slavin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Logan Stankoven | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | - | - | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||