With time winding down until the trade deadline (TDL), the Montreal Canadiens are running out of trade pieces with their many injuries. General manager (GM) Kent Hughes will have to weigh his options or hope that some of his injured players return within the next few days to get some games in before the TDL. Nonetheless, it has been a busy week for the Habs as they try to ice a team that can stay competitive as their schedule becomes more difficult. Here is a look at the past week’s news and rumours.
Monahan Returns to the Ice, Briefly
Sean Monahan returned to the ice for the Canadiens in a contact practice jersey for the first time since December to skate on the second line and take regular drills. This is excellent news for the Habs, as he is a significant trade piece that Montreal would like to move at the deadline. Monahan has 17 points in 25 games but was a pivotal factor in the team’s early success and proved that when healthy, he is still a top-six player. He has been out with a broken foot since Dec. 5, and seeing him in full participation in practice is a massive benefit to the team and management as the TDL gets closer.
Monahan, however, did not remain in a contact jersey for very long as, at the next day’s practice, he was back in a non-contact jersey. There was no reason for the change, and one would have to assume his foot was aggravated or, as some have speculated, he has a groin injury; however, he is still listed with a right foot injury. The following day’s practice, he was absent for treatment, pushing him further from returning and putting the Canadiens back to square one regarding the TDL.
Canadiens Might be Quiet at Trade Deadline
When the season started, the Canadiens had several pieces they could move at the TDL. All those players had to do was play good hockey and stay healthy, which is easier said than done. Evgenii Dadanov was acquired in the Shea Weber contract swap with the Vegas Golden Knights, and many thought if he played to his usual 20-25 goal season, he would fetch a possible first-round pick. Instead, he is on pace to score 12 goals and looks lost most of the time on the ice. Monahan and Paul Byron both have expiring contracts, and both have been injured for almost the entire season, with only Monahan playing in any games. Jonathan Drouin, another expiring contract, slumped to start the season and was injured on and off all season, leaving management with many unrestricted free agents (UFA) with little to no value coming up to the TDL.
Related: Likeliest Canadiens to Fetch First-Round Pick at 2023 Trade Deadline
It’s no secret that Hughes wants to acquire a third first-round pick, and his pre-season options are not working out as planned. He must think outside the box to add another pick before the draft, and other options are trading forward Josh Anderson, which Hughes has stated he doesn’t want to do, or another one of his young stars – which is very unlikely to happen. This issue with injuries and a disappointing season has many feeling that what was once potentially a busy TDL for Montreal will be reasonably quiet on March 3. There is still a chance Hughes can make some moves, but the likelihood that it will garner anything significant is pretty slim unless the GM has something out of left field up his sleeve.
Canadiens Have Returning Wounded
The Canadiens have good news on the injury side of things, as Joel Edmundson and Kaiden Guhle have been seen at practice skating on their own. Edmundson has been listed day-to-day with a back issue and was another player teams were inquiring about leading into this year’s TDL. He still has another year left on his contract, so it’s not a significant loss if he isn’t moved this season. He is, however, a player that could get Hughes the first-round pick he covets but will probably have to wait until next season to get it.
Guhle’s return is more of a surprise, and he was expected to be out for eight weeks when he injured his knee on Jan. 6. Seeing him skating on the ice two weeks early is excellent news for the organization and the young defender. He was playing on the top pairing for most of the season and was an outside candidate for rookie of the year because of his solid two-way play before the injury. As long as the Habs don’t rush him back, he should be good as new for next season.
Dubois Situation Looks Good for Canadiens
Once again Peirre-Luc Dubois is connected to the Canadiens. It’s a well-known secret that he wants to play for Montreal and wants to do so as soon as he can. Elliotte Friedman mentioned on his 32 Thoughts podcast that Dubois’s situation is leaning toward the Canadiens, which has been relatively known since last season’s draft. He has one more year with the Winnipeg Jets as a restricted free agent (RFA) before he’s a UFA and can sign with anyone. The Habs need to figure out if they want to trade for him and get him now, which means giving up assets they may not want to part with or waiting another season and signing him in 2024. Both situations have pros and cons, and I’m sure Hughes will make the right call.
The Canadiens skills competition was held this past week, with Rafael Harvey-Pinard winning the accuracy competition, going 4-4 in 9.311 seconds, edging Justin Barron by .3 of a second. Alex Belzile was the fastest skater completing his lap at 13.744 seconds; however, Byron’s son Brysen stole the show as he took Paul’s place and finished in just over 20 seconds. Finally, Mike Matheson had the hardest shot coming in at 100.9 MPH, and there was a shootout afterward where Mike Hoffman and Chris Wideman had some pretty highlight-worthy goals and then an autograph session for the fans.
The Canadiens continue the week hoping some of the injured return before the deadline, as Hughes has a tough road ahead of him if he wants to make some significant moves before March 3. Until then, keep an eye on The Hockey Writers as we keep you up to date with the TDL news.