Did the Montreal Canadiens make a mistake at the trade deadline?
One loss is what separates the Montreal Canadiens from a trip to summer vacation.
With Friday night’s Game 5 on the horizon from Raleigh, the Montreal faithful are preparing what may be the last dance for the 2025-26 version of their beloved Canadiens.
Even with a loss tonight, this season is an unequivocal success for the Canadiens. Especially when you consider their first two matchups against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Buffalo Sabres, respectively, going seven games each, there is certainly no shame in Montreal bowing out (albeit in a five-game fashion) to the Carolina Hurricanes.
All this being said, did GM Kent Hughes miss an opportunity by not adding to his team ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline?
As Daily Faceoff senior writer Matt Larkin wrote about at the time, the Canadiens were arguably the only true playoff contender to not make a substantial addition at the deadline. Yes, Phil Danault was acquired from the Los Angeles Kings earlier in the season. And he has definitely been solid during the playoffs. But that was nothing more than a depth addition and essentially replacing Christian Dvorak.
As Larkin discussed on DFO live yesterday, Patrick Laine’s contract ($8.7 million AAV) likely blocked the Canadiens from being able to land an impact center like Nazem Kadri from the Calgary Flames (eventually traded to the Colorado Avalanche). According to sources around the trade deadline, the Canadiens did attempt to unload Laine in a deal to acquire a defenseman; the compensation was not enough for the other team to bite on.
The biggest hole for the Canadiens is the need for a second line center behind captain Nick Suzuki. Oliver Kapanen plugged that hole admirably during the regular season (37 points while playing in all 82 games) as a rookie. But he has played in just seven postseason contests and has gone pointless in all of them.
The biggest pivot on the trade market was Robert Thomas of the St Louis Blues; the price tag on the player was well documented to be astronomical. Given what the rumored price tags were, it is reasonable to assume that the Blues had their eyes on 2024 first-round pick Michael Hage, prospect defenseman David Reinbacher, and a first-round pick.
Hage, who registered 52 points in 39 NCAA games this year, can certainly grow into the role as a second-line center. But when will that be? Acquiring Thomas as the long-term second-line pivot would’ve given the Canadiens a similar outlook to that of the Boston Bruins during their years with Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci down the middle.
On the back end, a depth addition certainly would’ve helped the current situation. The Canadiens often like to mix and match their pairings throughout the games – though Mike Matheson and Noah Dobson typically seem to be together as the shutdown pair – but the sixth defenseman on the depth chart has routinely gotten far less ice time.
Jayden Struble and Arber Xhekaj have averaged 11:43 and 8:06 of time on ice per game, respectively, rotating in the lineup as the sixth guy on the back end. The next lowest defenseman in regards to ice time is Kaiden Guhle, currently averaging more than 20 minutes per game. It is apparent that head coach Martin St. Louis could’ve used an extra body on his defense.
Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen was a name tied to the Canadiens leading up to the deadline; unwilling to meet the price tag, Montreal (and nobody else) pulled the trigger on the player. Among other defensemen who weren’t moved, New Jersey Devils’ Jonas Siegenthaler and Toronto Maple Leafs’ Brando Carlo could’ve made sense for the Canadiens to strengthen their depth.
Regardless of what happens over the next few days, the future is bright. But with the parity being stronger than ever, the playoffs are no longer guaranteed from one year to the next. The Canadiens have built a strong foundation for the future – but did they miss out on capitalizing on the present?
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