Hockey

Kent Hughes has lost quite a bit of leverage on the transaction market
Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Kent Hughes has lost quite a bit of leverage on the transaction market
Credit: NHL.com

Two weeks ago, we were thinking that the Canadiens were doing well.

The club was relatively healthy (Patrik Laine hadn't had a great start to the season, and Kaiden Guhle wasn't out with a long-term injury) and in the standings, things were going well.

It was beyond expectations.

But things are changing. The Canadiens are losing a little ground on the heels of four losses in their last five games.

It's nothing catastrophic , of course, but all the same, the lead is smaller than it was at the beginning of the month. It's becoming a bit more natural for a club turning the corner on its rebuild.

(Credit: NHL.com)

But for the past 24 hours, the bad news has been piling up. Alex Newhook will miss four months of activity, and Kaiden Guhle will also miss a good two months (at least) longer than expected.

In both cases, it hurts because these are players capable of making a big impact on the ice.

Of necessity, if the Canadiens want to stay in the game, they'll have to find a way to replace the excellent work of Guhle and Newhook over the long term.

Just yesterday, we thought Guhle would be back soon… and Newhook was healthy. The situation has changed drastically in the last 24 hours.

The result? On the heels of the standings and the guys' health, it's clear that Kent Hughes has less leverage in negotiations with his 31 counterparts across the NHL.

It can't be any other way.

Mind you, no one is saying that Kent Hughes is desperate to make a bad deal. But what we are saying is that executives elsewhere in the league are waiting for him more with a brick and a lantern.

Maybe the time to overpay to make a deal will come sooner rather than later…

If I'm following a team with a center or right-handed defenseman (be it a veteran like Nazem Kadri in Calgary or even a youngster like Tage Thompson in Buffalo), I expect to get a call from 514.

Whether that happens soon remains to be seen.


extension

While waiting for a potential deal from the Habs GM, it's internally that the club will have to turn to for a bit of reinforcement for what's to come.

We know that Jared Davidson has already been recalled as the club's 12th forward. But what if he hasn't?

How comfortable is the Canadiens with the likes of Joshua Roy, Owen Beck, Florian Xhekaj, Adam Engstrom and David Reinbacher in this world in the event of further injuries? Because yes, there will be others along the way.

Obviously, the Canadiens aren't going to call Russia to release Alexander Zharovsky from his KHL contract, and they're not going to ask David Savard to come out of retirement… but if they do, (quite a bit) everything will be on the table.

We've never really seen Kent Hughes in a situation like this because, in the past, he sold more than anything else and time didn't work against him as much. What will the GM pull out of his back pocket?

And how quickly will he want to move?

I'm wondering just how much many opposing teams will want to move before the holidays. It's a theory that's been circulating for several months, not least because of the interesting first pick in the upcoming draft.

This could help the work of Kent Hughes, who can hardly move faster than the market. Unless David Kampf is the miracle solution, of course… #Lol

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