“I see Kent Hughes making a trade before Kaiden Guhle returns.”

Mathis Therrien
“I see Kent Hughes making a trade before Kaiden Guhle returns.”
Credit: Capture d'écran/Twitter

It had been a very long time since the Montreal Canadiens had started a season with a roster virtually identical to the one that had finished the previous season.

The only real change was the departure of Brendan Gallagher, who was replaced (on the roster) by Chris Kreider.

It certainly wasn't for lack of trying that Kent Hughes didn't add more new players to his roster; he did everything he could to acquire Matthew Knies or Kirill Marchenko—and perhaps even more.

Now that the season has officially begun, one might think it's too late to make a trade, but that's really not the case, as Kent Hughes remains very active.

In fact, a trade could happen as early as this month, with Grant McCagg predicting that the Habs' general manager will make a move before Kaiden Guhle returns.

And seriously, when you think about it, it makes a lot of sense, given that the Habs will have only two true right-handed defensemen and five left-handed defensemen.

That's not an ideal balance, especially considering that Martin St-Louis isn't a big fan of Arber Xhekaj and Jayden Struble, who took turns on the ice for practically the entire last season.

It's therefore very likely that Kent Hughes will trade one of the two left-handed third-pair defensemen to make room in Montreal for David Reinbacher, who is right-handed and also an important piece of the team's future.

A spot will have to be made for the Austrian defenseman at some point, especially after his strong training camp, and that spot could open up sooner than expected.

And if the organization prefers to let Reinbacher spend another season in the American Hockey League, well, McCagg still sees Hughes making a move to bring in a right-handed defenseman to bolster the third pairing.

According to McCagg, the ideal target would be 29-year-old Zach Whitecloud, who plays for the Calgary Flames.

Whitecloud has played for the Habs in the past, and it's clear he would be a perfect fit as a right-handed third-pair defenseman.

So we could see a defensive corps that looks something like this:

Hutson – Dobson
Matheson – Carrier
Guhle – Reinbacher / Whitecloud
Xhekaj / Struble

In short, no matter which path the Habs' front office chooses, we're likely to see some movement soon, as Kent Hughes hasn't said his last word yet.


In a Flash

– Note.

– Definitely.

– Tune in tonight after the game.

– Don't miss it.

facebook icon Share twitter icon Tweet linkedin icon Share
Copied!