“I’d bet the Habs chatted to Pat Brisson about Jonathan Toews”

The Canadiens are looking for help at center. And by necessity, several names are being bandied about.

And because Kirby Dach didn’t prove anything this season, Alex Newhook isn’t necessarily a long-term solution and Christian Dvorak, until proven otherwise, doesn’t have a contract for next season, all targets are realistic.

For the moment, only Nick Suzuki and Jake Evans are certainties at center in 2025-2026.

On that subject, it’s not entirely surprising to see that Jonathan Toews, who speaks French thanks to his mother, is in the public discussion ahead of the club’s off-season.

After all, he’s a polarizing name, and if he’s available, he deserves to be considered.

The man attempting a return to the National League after two seasons away was a topic of discussion on Arpon Basu and Marc Antoine Godin’s podcast recently.

You can listen to it at the following link:

What Arpon Basu says at the 39th minute is that he really wouldn’t be surprised to know that Pat Brisson (the former Hawks captain’s agent) has spoken to either Kent Hughes or Jeff Gorton about his client.

Basu doesn’t often talk for nothing, by the way.

Having Jonathan Toews in town would have its advantages. He would bring experience and depth to the center line. He could guide Nick Suzuki as captain of an original team.

He could reunite with Kirby Dach, an important teammate for him in Chicago. From what we’ve seen, Dach performs better when he has a Toews or a Sean Monahan to back him up.

Kirby Dach and Jonathan Toews catching up at center ice. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/B4QHDen0Oq

– Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) November 25, 2022

But why would he sign in Montreal if clubs closer to the Stanley Cup were calling? Would the Habs want him if they had to go out and get a true top-6 center and had to give the third-center job to Alex Newhook?

I don’t think the Habs have any choice but to call up Toews, just to see what happens. But the more we look at it, the more I see him elsewhere.

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It’s also worth noting that there are links to Gabriel Landeskog, who missed nearly 36 months of activity before finally being able to return to action during the current series in Colorado.

But the guys from the “Basu and Godin Notebook” podcast are right: Landeskog is younger. Don’t expect Toews to have a similar impact, should he ever return to action.