Caution was the watchword for the Montreal Canadiens at the NHL's trade deadline. General manager Kent Hughes said there was a “big deal” the team was pursuing in the days preceding the deadline, but the Habs ended up sitting on their hands.
This is one of the most exciting teams in the Eastern Conference and they have been inside the playoff structure throughout the majority of the season. However, Montreal did not do one thing to help head coach Martin St. Louis and his players reach the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Canadiens did not add a depth forward. They did not bring in a right-shot defenseman. They did not get a dependable goaltender who can step in and steal games down the stretch or during the postseason.
This is on Kent Hughes. He did not want to make a mistake. Hughes did not want to give away the store for a rental player. He did not want to make a major trade of a current asset and a high draft pick to bring in a long-term player.
The general manager's hesitation to make a move could turn out to be the right move. The Canadiens have a dangerous and explosive offensive team that is capable of stringing goals together, lighting up the scoreboard and winning on the road.
However, it is more likely that the inaction will turn out to be a mistake.
Canadiens have star power but needed help at the deadline
Nobody was asking Hughes to remake the team. The only thing that St. Louis and his players needed was a player or two that could augment the team's strengths. This team has star power with Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Lane Hutson and Juraj Slafkovsky. Ivan Demidov and Oliver Kapanen are emerging players with nearly unlimited ceilings.
The Canadiens could be a difficult matchup for any of their Eastern Conference rivals, but this team often struggles on defense. Hughes did not bring in anyone that could have helped the Habs play a stouter brand of defense in the final stretch of the regular season and the playoffs.
As the playoffs approach, teams that are contending for a key spot in the playoffs want to enhance their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. A look at the Canadiens lineup indicates that their forwards is their greatest strength, while their defense needed some help.
The top pairs of Lane Hutson with Noah Dobson and Kaiden Guhle along with Mike Matheson are solid, but the No. 3 pair of Arber Xheaj and Alexandre Carrier is vulnerable. If the Canadiens could have made a trade to upgrade that pair, it would have been a positive development.
Goaltending is a major issue
The big need for the Canadiens is in goal. The combination of Samuel Montembeault and Jakub Dobes are not even close to the elite level. If the Canadiens fail to make the playoffs or get overwhelmed in the first round, the inability to stop key shots seems likely to be the biggest issue.
Montembault has a 10-8-4 record with a 3.43 goals against average and a shockingly scary .872 save percentage. Dobes has been somewhat better as he has a 20-6-4 record along with a 3.03 GAA and an .891 save percentage. Neither goalie inspires confidence at this point.
Jacob Fowler is their third goaltender and he has a 4-4-2 record with a 2.62 GAA and a .902 save percentage. The 21-year-old Fowler lacks experience and the Canadiens are unlikely to turn to him for their most crucial games.
Despite these significant areas of concern, Hughes was unable to pull the trigger on any kind of move. He was hoping to improve the team, but he did not want to take a chance by sending out a significant player or draft pick.
Making the wrong move would have been worse than making no move
Hughes had an explanation for his lack of activity. The key to standing pat was sending the message to the players that they are good enough to get the job done.
“I think part of the message to the group is: we like these players,” Hughes told Canadiens.com. “We've got good hockey players that aren't playing games right now for our team. So, for us to add to that logjam, we wanted to know that it really was meaningful enough for us to do it. And then I also think, it's not like we've tried to build this team uniquely through the draft.
“I don't want to leave the impression to our fan base that we're just going to keep drafting and drafting and drafting. We're going to do what we need to do to keep moving the needle forward.”
It is clear that Hughes can explain away the lack to activity at the deadline and have it make some sense. However, not improving the blue line crew or goaltending was a mistake and the Canadiens will almost certainly regret it.
