Max Lapierre, & Pierre McGuire join Tony Marinaro on The Sick Podcast

Patrik Laine put together a masterful three-point performance for the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night in a 4-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.

It was another dominant, complete effort for Martin St. Louis's team, and the team didn't look a step behind Carolina the entire night. For my money, Owen Beck's simple game, and ability to slow the game down is a brilliant addition on the second line. I think it's at the point, and Marinaro mentioned it, that Kirby Dach doesn't need to stay on the second line, at least not at centre.

Beck is so smart and committed to playing a strong two-way game for the Canadiens while playing a pretty solid game offensively. I think his faceoff prowess, speed and vision are what stand out most, and I think that he deserves a legitimate audition in his current role. Montreal will look different next season, and Dach, Christian Dvorak and Jake Evans may not be playing centre for the team next year.

The Canadiens may hold onto a combination of them, and Dach is likely not going anywhere. But they can afford to move on from two, potentially three because they have tremendous depth organizationally down the middle. Nick Suzuki, Oliver Kapanen and Owen Beck are all options next season, and in a pinch, Michael Pezzetta can play fourth-line centre until the end of the season.

Montreal should do all they can to load up at the draft, perhaps the last one where they draft in the top end of it. The importance of adding another top-15 pick to the pool would be tremendous for the draft. Especially with the crop of talent at the top, Montreal could add a fantastic player for their future.

Regardless of the position, and the collective opinion about the 2025 draft, there are plenty of tremendous talents. I think there are some that would be a better fit with the Habs than others. In saying that, picking the best player available would be wise for the Canadiens.

I don't know if the Canadiens are likely to stick with Suzuki and Beck as their one-two punch for any stretch. But I do know that Michael Hage will be in Montreal soon enough, and he will fill a need. Adding a winger however or a centre who is willing to shift to the wing would be ideal for the Canadiens.

Noteworthy stuff from Tony, Maxim and Pierre

Tony Marinaro, Maxim Lapierre and Pierre McGuire discussed many things about the Montreal Canadiens.

Two-line pass

They discussed how there used to be a rule called the two-line pass, where the team can't pass the puck through the entire neutral zone. This means that the opportunities that Caufield has become famous for, are high-danger breakaways. But with the two-line pass in effect, many of Caufield's sprints in the offensive zone from the blueline to the net would be stopped in their tracks with a whistle.

McGuire said that he would have his team lock down the lanes where Caufield rushes the puck to the net, and simply take away any space for him. Caufield likes to create speed in the neutral zone, create confusion on zone entries and attack the net. If he can't make it through the neutral zone, he won't be very effective.

No Zegras, but how about grit

McGuire and Lapierre agreed that bringing in Trevor Zegras wouldn't be a great fit for the Canadiens. Sure he has plenty of individual talent - scoring multiple Michigan goals and performing acrobatic passes. But Montreal doesn't need to make circus plays, they need to have some mean players, who will bump and grind on the forecheck and backcheck.

A Sam Bennett would be an ideal fit for Kent Hughes, because he plays like a mean son of a gun, and creates space for his linemates. Lapierre also mentioned Cozens, who isn't small by any means, and though he focuses more on his two-way game, he is a physical presence. Cozens would be a brilliant addition for Kent Hughes, and the 6'3" and 194-pound centre would not be pushed around.

Draft Price, and trade McDonagh, why?

Pierre McGuire was upset about the Price draft pick, but the Ryan McDonagh trade was worse for him. Montreal was set with their goaltender, a goalscorer and a potential number-one defender in the 2007 draft. McDonagh was moved before he could ever make any impact for the Canadiens.

Montreal received Scott Gomez, Tom Pyatt and Michael Busto, in exchange for McDonagh, Chris Higgins, Doug Janik and Pavel Valentenko. A defence pair of McDonagh and PK Subban would have been a tremendous one for the Habs. With Pacioretty up front, and Subban coming in the second round of the '07 draft, the Canadiens loaded up at the draft.

Unfortunately they didn't get to see McDonagh blossom into a fantastic top pairing defenseman, who went on to win two Stanley Cups with the Tampa Bay Lightning. McDonagh, 35, is a veteran of 15 seasons and 984 games. McDonagh has scored 408 points, and not one of them has come in a Canadiens sweater.

McDonagh played eight season with the New York Rangers, before being traded to Tampa for a package including Vladislav Namestnikov, Brett Howden, Libor Hajek, a 2018 first round selection and a conditional second in the 2019 draft. McDonagh signed a seven-year extension with the Lightning, and the summer after winning the Stanley Cup against Montreal, he was traded to Nashville, where he played two seasons.

Nashville traded him back to Tampa for a seventh round pick in 2024, and a second in 2025.

Hughes trying to package Evans, Armia

Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes knows the days before the Trade Deadline are slowly dwindling. With the deadline approaching closer, decisions will need to be made in Montreal, with a few notable UFAs coming off the books on July 1st. In the interest of deriving maximum value for the players, Hughes is looking to make some trades.

Recent news from Pierre Lebrun, of TSN and a writer for The Athletic, indicates that Hughes is looking to package his two UFA forwards in a trade to get back a solid return. The move is wise because it maximizes the potential return. Armia and Evans provided two parts of a ready-made fourth line, and provide a duo on the penalty kill, that has chemistry already.

Hughes is dealing from a position of strength, and I think this is a potential trade that could come down to the winding minutes before the official deadline. Hughes is a great negotiator, and because he is patient, and does everything to get what he wants, he is often successful.

Marinaro asked McGuire and Lapierre what they would do, and McGuire mentioned that in the past Armia had been offered up in a trade package. McGuire didn't accept the deal, and still, he is firm in his position that he wouldn't trade for that package. He would prefer to just target Evans, but not Armia.

Lapierre, is firm in his assessment, that he wouldn't trade Evans under any circumstances, and further, he would sign Evans to an extension. Evans has been healthy for the majority of his career, aside from when Mark Scheifele caught him with a blindside hit. Lapierre believes that Evans provides too many things for the Canadiens for them to trade him - if he is traded, Montreal will be looking for a player on the market that will do what Evans did.

McGuire would offer Evans a seven-year deal, and because of the term, he would want to bring down the salary to a manageable cost. He would be willing to table an offer to Evans - a deal in the $2.75 to $3.75 million range annually.

In closing

Montreal is playing well, and the Trade Deadline is 10 days away, as of February 26th. So, there will be many interesting conversations through the media, either on Twitter, podcasts and even on Sportsnet before then. Hughes and Jeff Gorton will have plenty to watch and consider before then, and there will certainly be much more great The Sick Podcast content relevant to whatever happens.