The Montreal Canadiens started the season hot, but have struggled as of late. They are 2-4-3 in their last nine games, but did defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 on Saturday night. This had led to speculation that the Canadiens are making trade calls. Now, it is being reported that the team is clearly looking to add to the roster.
“Montreal is not done, that’s for sure. They’d still like to add a centre or a top-six player to their lineup,” a source from the Western Conference informed RG's Marco D'Amico.
Montreal has been decimated by injuries so far this year. Patrik Laine, Kirby Dach, and Alex Newhook are all out of the lineup with injuries at the forward position. Meanwhile, Kaiden Guhle and David Reinbacher are out on the blue line.
“[Canadiens general manager Kent] Hughes is active in making calls and checking in on players. We know Nashville and St. Louis are also talking to everyone right now,” the same source told D'Amico. “Lots of chatter, let’s see where it goes.”
The Habs and Hughes do have trade pieces they can use to make a deal happen. They still have a young core that needs to be grown around. At the forward positions, that is Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Ivan Demidov, who are all 26 years old or younger. All of them except Demidov are under contract through at least 2029-30.
On the back end, Noah Dobson, Kaiden Guhle, and Lane Huston are all 25 or younger, and under contract through the 2030-31 season. This leaves the team with multiple options at the blue line to trade away. One of those is Adam Engstrom. He is set to make his NHL debut soon after being called up from the AHL. He's been great with the Laval Rocket this year, amassing 14 points in 18 games. The Canadiens may be showcasing him for a trade.
“I heard Adam Engstrom impressed a lot of scouts over the last few weeks, especially this weekend,” a source told D'Amico. “The Canadiens like him a lot and just called him up. I don’t know if they’re showcasing him or trying to get a handle on what he can do in the NHL, but he’s another promising kid. They have decisions to make on that blueline soon.”
The Canadiens are 11-7-3 this season, good for fifth in the Atlantic Division. They hit the ice again on Wednesday, beginning a Western Conference swing on the road against the Utah Mammoth.
