It’s August, and that means we’re still in the NHL offseason so, henceforth, a trade can still happen between the Montreal Canadiens and another team. But, with fewer than two months before the opening faceoff that will kick off the 2024-25 NHL Season, it’s less likely now that we would see general manager Kent Hughes make a trade.
The Habs are still one of the NHL’s weakest teams, albeit one of the more intriguing and fun teams, so it wouldn’t be uncommon for them to take a flier on another player or two if they felt they’d be getting a fair value via trade.
And earlier in the calendar year, Kevin Dube and Benoit Rioux of TVA Sports expressed their opinions on a few young players Hughes could trade for. A couple of them wouldn’t have made for bad deals, like Jack Quinn of the Buffalo Sabres or Alexander Holtz of the New Jersey Devils.
Further, another pair - Peyton Krebs and Kaapo Kakko - could have provided good value. Krebs has never evolved into a scorer since he came to the Sabres in 2021, but his presence would bolster a team’s defense at forward. Kakko is a player you can’t help but think will eventually break out, and perhaps a change of scenery would ultimately help him get there.
There’s one player the Canadiens have been smart to keep away from so far
As mentioned earlier, the Habs could still make a trade here, and an ill-fated one at that, as the one other player on Dube’s and Rioux’s list was Arthur Kaliyev. Of course, for such a big forward, Kaliyev’s compete has always been murky despite his raw ability to produce, but even the latter hasn’t been a strong suit of his in the NHL.
Kaliyev’s most productive season with the Los Angeles Kings occurred in 2022-23, when he finished the year with 28 points and 13 goals in 56 contests, with a 10.7 shooting percentage. That said, his average total ice time plummeted to just 11:41 per contest, and he also failed to capitalize on that success in 2023-24.
This past season, Kaliyev finished with 15 points and seven goals in 51 games, and his ice time increased by just seven seconds, which isn’t much of a dent. Overall, the Canadiens could be a spot for Kaliyev to try and revive his career, but it’s also worth noting that the odds are against him in regard to providing much help for a team that doesn’t expect to earn a trip to the playoffs.