The NHL Trade Deadline is quickly approaching for the Montreal Canadiens and the rest of the league, with it being a little over a week away. For the Canadiens, their needs seem pretty clear and were recently confirmed by David Pagnotta.
The focus for general manager Kent Hughes is to add another player for their top line next to Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. "The Habs are in an interesting spot, too, because they're looking to see if they can bring somebody in to kind of play with Caufield and Suzuki," Pagnotta said.
"They tried Texier there, they tried Kirby Dach but they want to see if they can bring in somebody that can really gel and mesh with those guys."
Montreal Canadiens have to move Patrik Laine out before they can consider adding to that top line
As Pagnotta notes in his report, the Canadiens are pretty limited with their current cap space as they have only roughly around $1 million. That is not enough to make an impactful trade that adds to this top line.
However, it is no secret that the Canadiens have been trying to move Patrik Laine. He is a player who has been rumored to be available for some time now, but that trade just hasn't materialized.
"They can move Laine out, even if they retain half of that contract at $8.7 million, it gives them over five million in cap space and adds a solid piece there," Pagnotta said.
There is no question that Laine is someone who is not in the Montreal Canadiens' plans, as he has seemingly been ready to return from his injury before the Olympic break. However, he has not been activated from injured reserve and once again should be out when the Canadiens return against the New York Islanders.
That is not to say that Laine couldn't be valuable elsewhere around the league and had 20 goals in 52 games last season. The fact that he is playing on the final year of his deal and if Montreal retains half of the salary, he could be a bargain add for teams at the trade deadline.
Pagnotta mentioned the Los Angeles Kings as a possible destination, but at this time, that doesn't seem like a fit. Regardless of where Laine ends up, he is a player who, if traded, creates the needed cap space to make a move and is the logical player to be traded.
It will be an interesting week as rumors continue to pick up leading to the NHL Trade Deadline, and the Montreal Canadiens should be involved in a lot of those discussions as they try to send one player out before they address their need.