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The Montreal Canadiens returned to the playoffs for the first time since losing the Stanley Cup Final to the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2021. Still, the Canadiens would fall in the first round of the playoffs to the Washington Capitals. Montreal still has a solid young core of players, led by Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, but they need depth. Finding trade partners to make the depth a reality in the 2025 NHL offseason is a must for the Canadiens.
The Canadiens are expected to be aggressive in finding a second-line center, or at minimum, a top-six forward. Pierre LeBrun has reported, “Habs GM Kent Hughes is leaving no stone unturned in surveying the forward market and trying to line up potential trade scenarios for this week and perhaps into the summer.” It is still clear that the Canadiens need to be aggressive.
And Hughes stayed true to his word. As of Friday afternoon, Montreal had plenty of draft capital, with both the 16th and 17th picks in the NHL draft. But Hughes made a huge splash ahead of the draft, acquiring Noah Dobson from the New York Islanders in a blockbuster and giving up both of those picks — along with Emil Heineman — in the process.
Here are two players the Habs could move after acquiring Dobson on Friday.
Montreal needs to move Patrik Laine
Laine is in the last year of his contract, and is due $8.7 million this upcoming season. That makes him the second highest-paid skater on the Canadiens roster after Dobson was signed to an eight-year deal at a $9.5 million AAV.
The Fin was drafted with the second pick in the 2016 draft by the Winnipeg Jets. He would break into the NHL with the Jets in the 2016-17 season and be an immediate success. In his first four years in the NHL, he missed just 23 games and scored 28 or more goals, while having 50 or more points in every season. In the shortened 2020-21 campaign, he would play just one game with the Jets before dealing with an injury and then being shipped to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
He would never reach the same level of stability or performance with the Jackets and was traded to Montreal in the summer of 2024. His performance this season did not command the contract he is currently under. He played in just 52 games in Montreal in this past campaign, scoring 20 goals, but adding just 13 assists. He has not played an 82-game season since 2018-19, and has been over 60 points just three times in his career. All three of those instances were in his time with the Jets.
Laine is in the last year of his contract and does have a modified no-trade clause, but he may not be the best fit for the future of the Canadiens. Moving him now allows Montreal to get the most for him. While it has been years since he was at the peak of his production, the cap space savings alone are enough to move him.
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Could the Canadiens trade Kirby Dach?
Another way to bring in a top-six forward would be to trade Dach. The Canadian center was the third overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks. He would make his NHL debut in October 2019 with the Blackhawks. Dach would spend his first three seasons in the NHL with the Blackhawks, but would never score more than ten goals. He went to the Canadiens during the 2022 NHL draft as part of a trade. In his first season in Montreal, Dach had his best season as a professional. He played in just 58 games, but scored 14 goals and added 24 assists, both career highs.
Still, injuries have played a major role in the career of the former first-round pick. He played in just two games in the 2023-24 campaign, and would play in just 57 this past season. He will turn 25 this year, and still has one year left on his contract. Further, Dach will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season. Given his age and the glimpses of talent he has shown, he could be an attractive trade option for another team. The Canadiens need more consistency, though. Trading away Dach for a veteran center that has shown he can stay on the ice would be a wise move for the franchise.
Draft capital can be used to improve the roster
Despite trading both the 16th and 17th picks in this upcoming draft, the Canadiens still have five picks in the draft. Montreal also has one of the youngest rosters in the NHL. After the trade deadline, the Canadiens were the fifth youngest team in the league. Adding more youth and an already young team may not bring the desired results. There are a few potential moves that the team can make with this solid draft capital.
To begin with, they could go after a restricted free agent. Still, that would be using draft capital in the 2026 NHL Draft, and that draft is expected to have depth. The Habs could also make a move for a second-line center or a top-six forward. With Trevor Zegras no longer on the market, being traded to the Philadelphia Flyers, it would need to be another option for a top-end center.
Marco Rossi is on the market, and the Wild may be interested in trading him at the draft. They could also settle for a forward to play on the second line, with players such as Jason Robertson and Jordan Kyrou projected to be available. The Habs could try to use 2026 draft capital as part of a package to acquire one of the three star forwards.
The Canadiens have a bright future, and adding Dobson to the equation gives them a fantastic one-two punch with him and Lane Hutson on the back end. Along with a couple of great young forwards, Montreal should be competitive for years to come. But they might not be done making moves this summer as they look to return to legitimate Stanley Cup contention in 2025-26 and beyond.
