Like many teams in the offseason, the Montreal Canadiens are hoping to fill in the holes in their lineup and address some of their needs before the upcoming season. The Habs have two glaring needs: a real top-six player and a right-shot defenseman. In the latest edition of the 32 Thoughts Podcast, Elliotte Friedman reported that Noah Dobson could be in play.
The Sportsnet insider reports the New York Islanders are quietly testing the market right now to see what they could bring in. For him, the Isles are trying to gauge the market to make an informed decision on a player they know will be a player of significant value.
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We spoke about Dobson potentially being a target for the Canadiens back in May, and while he would fit the profile of players the Habs could be after, the price won’t be low. As Friedman explained on the podcast, if they do trade the 25-year-old right-shot defenseman, it would have to be for a return that would impress people. The Islanders want to contend for the playoffs next season, and they won’t do that by trading Dobson for future assets.
Would the Canadiens be ready to fork out the kind of return that Mathieu Darche and co would consider appropriate? Would they be prepared to use a roster player of roughly the same value and potential? Offering Kirby Dach or Alex Newhook won’t cut it, to be frank, nor will one year of unidimensional sniper Patrik Laine. You’ve got to give to get, and I struggle to see Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton entertain the mere thought of offering someone like Juraj Slafkovsky in a trade to fix the hole on the right side of defense.
Fixing one need by creating another, just as important, would make very little sense, and that’s not the way Hughes operates. Slafkovsky has yet to reach his full potential, but he has shown flashes of what he could become if he maintains a consistent effort level and plays the right way from October until the end of the playoffs. I don’t think that’s a gamble Hughes would be willing to make.
While they are not signed long-term, I cannot fathom the possibility of Montreal even entertaining the idea of sacrificing Ivan Demidov or Lane Hutson, the two youngsters have got core pieces written all over them.
Shopping for a right-shot defenseman is no easy task, but it gets even harder when you are considering who would want to buy what you are selling. Montreal has a lot of draft capital and interesting prospects, which could be attractive to a rebuilding team, but not to a team that’s looking to compete here and now, which the Islanders seem to be.
Photo credit: Russell LaBounty-Imagn Images
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