The Montreal Canadiens have been quiet this offseason and appear to be into losing players more than adding in free agency. The team has not signed a single player that will be an NHL regular next season, unless Lias Andersson is far better in training camp than ever before.
Instead, they have opted to be patient and add a few depth players like Andersson as well as Phillip Maillet and Brady Keeper to add some talent to the Laval Rocket lineup next season. The Habs lineup did add Alex Newhook via trade a few days before free agency began, but he is the only true newcomer for the Canadiens so far this offseason.
The team even moved out a veteran when they traded defenseman Joel Edmundson to the Washington Capitals for third and seventh round draft picks in 2024. That opened up some room for younger NHL ready defensemen on the blue line, but hasn’t freed up the logjam up front.
When Newhook signs, the team will have 16 players who have proven to be NHL talents at forward. That is simply too many and they will look to move someone out, like they did with Edmundson, before the puck drops on the 2023-24 season.
The most likely candidate would be Mike Hoffman. He doesn’t really fit into the lineup and definitely does not fit into the long term plan in Montreal. He has one year left on his contract with a $4.5 million cap hit and will not be re-signing with the Canadiens. The team would love to have his roster spot freed up for a younger winger like Jesse Ylonen or Rafael Harvey-Pinard.
Hoffman has not become a fan favorite in his two seasons with the Canadiens, but he has scored 29 goals and 69 points in 134 games over two seasons in Montreal. That is an average of 18 goals and 42 points per 82 games which is below what he did before arriving in Montreal, but also not nearly as bad as many fans would have you believe.
With one year left on his contract, it is not impossible to see him moved for a small return. A team looking to add some scoring to the middle of their lineup could land Hoffman and expect him to score 20 goals and 45 points with the right linemates.
Who could realistically be looking to acquire Hoffman from the Canadiens? Let’s take a look at three potential landing spots.