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Nicolas Hague: the Canadiens are very interested in acquiring him
Mathis Therrien
Nicolas Hague: the Canadiens are very interested in acquiring him
Credit: The off-season is fast approaching in the National Hockey League, as we’re currently in the month of June, in the midst of the Stanley Cup Finals. This means that the draft (June 27-28) and the opening of the free agent market (July 1) are just around the corner. The NHL’s 32 teams are gearing up […]

The off-season is fast approaching in the National Hockey League, as we’re currently in the month of June, in the midst of the Stanley Cup Finals.

This means that the draft (June 27-28) and the opening of the free agent market (July 1) are just around the corner.

The NHL’s 32 teams are gearing up for these big events, as they all look to improve for the 2025-2026 campaign.

Teams will be able to improve by drafting new young gems, and by signing free agents, but we mustn’t forget all the potential transactions that will take place.

Indeed, there may well be transactions in the coming weeks, some of them involving players who will become free agents on July 1.

The rights of certain players are likely to be traded, while some teams will want to get a head start in their negotiations before the free agent market opens.

This is an avenue that the Canadiens could take in the coming weeks.

In fact, one name has already been linked to the Habs in terms of this type of transaction, and that name is that of 6’6″ left-handed defenseman Nicolas Hague of the Vegas Golden Knights.

According to Nick Kypreos’ latest article for the Toronto Star, two teams, the Habs and the Pittsburgh Penguins, are very interested in acquiring the Golden Knights’ defenseman.

The giant-sized defenseman’s rights expire on July 1, so the Golden Knights, who are stuck with the cap, may not be able to re-sign him, and may want to at least get a return for his rights.

The Habs would therefore be looking to add a huge, defensive-minded left-handed defenseman at 6’6″ and 240 lbs.

The 26-year-old Canadiens defenseman has averaged 15 points per season since joining the NHL, and plays well as a stable third-pair defenseman.

But why would the Habs want to add another left-handed defenseman to their lineup?

Well, I’m not going to lie, I asked myself the same question when I saw this rumor.

The Habs already have plenty of NHL-caliber left-handed defensemen (Lane Hutson, Kaiden Guhle, Mike Matheson, Arber Xhekaj and Jayden Struble), so why add another?

Well, it’s worth noting that Hague can play right-handed just fine, given that he often did so in Vegas.

This helps explain the Habs’ interest, as they look to make up for the loss of David Savard.

Hague is a defenseman with a style very similar to Savard’s, and so, potentially, this is where the Habs see something interesting in Hague, who is only 26 years old.

However, this means that we’re not necessarily thinking of trusting a young right-handed player to replace Savard.

Picking up Hague would cut a spot for Logan Mailloux or David Reinbacher.

I guess the Habs don’t think they’re quite ready for the NHL yet

Anyway, let’s see what the Habs do this summer, and if the potential acquisition of Hague could mean that a left-handed player will be traded.

If the Habs were to add Hague to their roster, here’s what I think the Habs defense pairings would look like.

Hutson – Guhle

Matheson – Carrier

Xhekaj – Hague

Struble


Overtime

– To be continued.

– Coming up.

– Interesting stuff.

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