Could The Montreal Canadiens Be TRADE Trendsetters?

Could The Montreal Canadiens Be TRADE Trendsetters?

There’s Marco Demo. I’m Sean Star. Welcome back to the Star and Demo Show. Like and subscribe. The road to 20,000 subs begins with you. And a big shout out to our sponsors at cheapest t-shirts.ca. If you’re looking for quality tees, hoodies, heck, even aprons and the best prices in this country. Head over to cheapest t-shirts.ca. Top brands like American Apparel, Columbia, Russell Athletic, and more. There’s no minimum orders. And we’ve got sizes from small all the way to 5XL. Well, that’s what Marco likes to sleep in at night. And when you order today, they ship today and most deliveries will arrive tomorrow. Cheapest t-shirts.ca. Fast, easy, and affordable. And a big shout out to Katherine Prince. She’s a certified real estate broker with Remax Platin. Always reachable when you need her. Whether you’re buying or selling, looking to move to the Southshore, looking to move to Montreal, 514-722474. Check out her website, Katherine with a K. Katherineprince.ca. Marco Demo. The Montreal Canadians begin their four-game home stand. They’ve got their home opener tonight at the Bell Center as they welcome in the Seattle Kraken. And listen, this isn’t an overreaction video. The Montreal Canadiens have four points uh through the opening three games of the season. But that doesn’t mean that Ken Hughes isn’t already planning for the future. Let’s spend some minutes here talking about cap space. Let’s talk about maneuverability. You and I had talked about, you know, the the trade window. When could it happen? Roster freezes before Christmas time. What do you think the timeline looks like? Not so much for the rest of the league. Let’s focus on Montreal. What’s that what’s that timeline look like to you today? Well, I think, you know, I think uh the Canadians were going to want to improve this roster one way or the other. I mean, you know, a lot of people are going to say, well, let’s see what happens. Let’s see where things go. Absolutely. I don’t think there’s anything imminent. But what I will say is when the team finally has cap space for the first time in a half a decade. Yeah. Uh starting the season off projected to start the season off at 4 and a.5 million 4.8 8 million uh with a 23man roster and then decide that they’re going to wave Sammy Blle because they want to play for with a 22man roster despite you know no like unforced just total organizational decision to me that indicated hey we don’t need the player in the lineup we have 13 forwards our farm team I’m speaking as if as if I’m the Canadians here our farm team is down the orange line of the metro like we shouldn’t necessarily have a problem here for call-ups or this or that. But what it did is it boosted the Canadians cap space from 4.8 to 5.53. And what does that mean? The Canadians having 5 a.5 million right now in cap space unlike when they were using LTIR that number grows every day that that money is not spent because salary is prrated right and it’s prorated to the day. So, like I’ll give you an example. Five and a halfway through the season. Well, it counts for double, right? Around around double. And so this is where the Canadians can be a little bit more aggressive earlier in the season because for the first time in a long time, teams don’t actually have to wait to the trade deadline anymore because maximizing your cap space when there’s a playoff salary cap is not the same thing. I’ll give you, you know, a direct example would be the Canadians themselves. Right now they have 5 a.5 million. If they were to just acrue cap space until the trade deadline on March 6th, they would have 25 a.5 million. But it’s useless to use all 25 and a half million at the trade deadline when you have to have 20 players that make up 95.5 million, which is current season salary cap to be compliant in the playoffs, right? Like so the Canadians would would be way over. Um and so it kind of puts you in a situation where okay well if we if the plan is not to maximize cal space at the deadline and you still work with you know say end of November American Thanksgiving roster freeze December 18th the Canadians would have about $11 million $12 million to spend then that wouldn’t necessarily put them over the cap when it gets to the playoffs. offs because it’s 20 it’s the 20 players not the 23 man or 24man roster at that point right and that got that got me thinking okay the Canadians were aggressive last year remember they were dead last and they traded for Alex Kerry and that changed the season remember that like the defense just absolutely just took off in an interview that we that we did at RG uh with uh executive vice President Jeff Gorton, he said, “We don’t view the opening night roster as our final roster. We will we’re going to look to improve this team during the season so that when we come time in the playoffs like other teams, we’re going to have, you know, we’re going to have a an improved roster.” And the idea at the time was to wait out for for teams, and we’ve talked about this on this channel already, so I won’t bore everybody with the details, but there’s an expectation that there are going to be a quite a few teams that are going to throw in the towel early this year. Exactly. And some players, especially at center, may become available. And so, the Canadians have made have opened themselves to that possibility. You know, be it uh be it everyone’s Sydney Crosby acquisition that could potentially happen. um they’ve you know I’m not I not saying it’s going to happen but there are other centers that will possibly become available around that time uh if certain teams like I don’t know Seattle Boston New York uh Islanders Rangers you know like if those teams start to bottom out Detroit even um you know that’s when an opportunity is is going to be available to strike as those teams try to pack it in and go for the Gavin McKenna Katon Verhoff uh draft Uh, and the Canadians are looking to continue pace and make the playoffs. Catherine Prince, Remax Platine. It’s time to talk about one of life’s biggest decisions, and that’s buying or selling your house. And I encourage you to visit katherineprince.ca for more information. That’s katherine with a krince.ca. A Southshore and Montreal area specialist, she’s lived and worked in the region for over 20 years. Katherine Prince.ca. Her deep local roots give her unmatched insight whether you’re moving to Montreal, returning to Montreal, or relocating to the beautiful Southshore. Her approach is truly personal. She takes the time to understand your unique goals and priorities, then crafts a custom strategy around them. She moves with precision, leveraging deep market knowledge, sharp negotiation skills, and meticulous care to guide you through every step. If you’re considering a move to Montreal, a return to the city, or settling on the Southshore, Katherine is ready to be your strategic partner. Call Katherine Prince, that’s Katherine with a K, 5147022474 to start the conversation. Well, that’s the thing here on this game day, right? And um before the game, head over to MLAN’s 1210 Peele Street, the home of uh the Canadians Home or Away, the home of De Mo and Star, live from October 22nd. I think I can speak for Demo. You might want to try the butter chicken pizza. Even if you’re a pizza traditionalist. I’m I I’m telling you, I wouldn’t lie to you about food. Diko’s leaving. He’s got trauma because he hasn’t had butter chicken pizza. The service, the ambiance, they know how to take care of you. And if you’re there, why don’t you uh give a shout out to Star and do tell them that we sent you there. The thing is, you know, three games in, there hasn’t been like an obvious weakness. You know, you can you can be frustrated with the power play. It’s it’s 12th in the National Hockey League at 20%. Right? They’ve got four points after six games. The Boston Bruins going into Tuesday, right? I mean, look very very strong out of the gate, but I still think the weakness is the weakness, right? They’re looking for depth down the middle. And you know, Kirby Doc is easing his way into the lineup, playing over 13 minutes. He’s got one assist. I thought on Saturday he looked better. I thought his movements were were good. I thought he had pace. I I saw him throw his body around a little bit. So, I I like Kirby Doc through three games. And you know, I’m not allergic to watching a big 77 when he’s out there, right? But what’s the price to pay? You know, you brought up the Justin Baron, Alex Carrier transaction. I agree with everything you had mentioned there. Stabilized, brought structure, brought depth, all of those things. Check, check, check, check. Like, how rich do the Montreal Canadians? They’re rich with prospects, but do they want to spend, spend, spend, you know? Do they want to go into Royal Mount and go into the Hublo store and and drop 30K on a beautiful time piece or are they going to, you know, look for the for the Timex cuz it keeps on ticking, you know? What do you think Ken Hughes and Jeff Gordon’s appetite is to spend spend spend if they believe if they believe they can bring this team to another level this season? You know, I a lot of people thought it was a steal at the time of the trade, but I thought the Canadians paid us a nice package for Noah Dobson when he became available, right? Two first round picks and a guy in Emil Heinman who many see as a future middle six player in the NHL with physicality and goalc scoring ability, right? So if they saw that for a top pair ID, what do you think they’re going to pay for a top six center if that center is a prime center like Dobson is a prime defenseman in his position? Right. Well, that’s the money question though, right? They’re Yeah, but there’s many things that you can do. Like one thing the Montreal Canadians haven’t been shy about doing is trading first round picks, right? Yeah. They traded one first round pick in 2022, one first round pick in 2023, one first round pick in 2024, one two first round picks in 2025. Uh they’ve basically traded five first round picks in the last four years. You know, it’s they’re not shy about it, right? Because they’re drafting well elsewhere and they had other picks as well and some of those picks were used to move up and and so on and so forth. So yeah, I don’t think that they’d be necessarily, you know, hesitant to trade their first draw pick. Of course, there would have to be protection in that situation, right? Like if if you know, the Canadians, you know, finished bottom 10. I don’t know. But I don’t necessarily doubt that the first round pick would be on the table. Um they have two second round picks and you just talked about it. they have some they have prospects that could very much be available for trade that other teams like you know or players and and I think that’s the other thing right like Canadians have to make some decisions about some of their rosters right because on defense Adam Angstrom isn’t just knocking on the door he’s yelling into the intercom like he’s right there even again even playing for Laval over the weekend like I thought Adam Angstrom was the best defenseman on the ice and just that mobility is there he’s close to So that whether he’s included in a trade or he bumps somebody out of the lineup that gets included in the trade, something’s going to have to give sooner or later, right? And so I think there’s that that element comes into it as well. So and and again, I’m not I’m not going to say that he’s going to be shocked or whatnot. All I got to say is that I know for a fact that scouts really liked his game uh going back to the preseason uh and walking by a few, you know, and talking about Angstrom’s ability. So, you know, ultimately they have the pieces. You know, some people may say, you know, maybe including David Rybacker could make sense. I would be iffy. I would be iffy about doing that because I feel like his value is not at its most highest and selling low on him right now might not be ideal. Get him up get him a few games up and and see where he’s at with his development and make a decision. But the Canadians, you know, like I think the one player I really wouldn’t like to see the Canadians trade, ironically, for a top six center is Michael H. Oh yeah, I gotta think he’s untouchable. I have to think he’s untouchable. Like I think David Rybacker is more your quote touchable today. I don’t Yeah, I don’t know that I would call him untouchable, but it would take it would take I wouldn’t do it for Sydney Crosby. I wouldn’t trade Michael H for Sydney Crosby for three seasons. at all. No, but like for example, okay, and I example, you know, Seattle decides to blow it up and they get fed up with the team that they have. Matty Beneers becomes available. Yeah. You know, that’s a conversation. A lot of people are going to be like, “No, Michael Hayes is going to be better.” You, you know, you can make that argument, but the way that Matty Beneers has been playing to start the season for Seattle, he looks like he’s on a revenge tour. and that if he can be a left shot, strong at faceoff, 60 to 70 point center, you know, then then, you know, we’re having a conversation. Now, of course, I’m not saying trade Michael H. Not saying that at all, but these are the kinds of conversations you would have to have if a player like that suddenly became available. With that said, the Canadians in this situation right now with their salary cap space are just opening themselves up to the possibility in case any of these names that they’ve earmarked over the summer become available because the word around the league again is that some names that were circling around in the summer and some names that we haven’t even heard about yet are going to start becoming available uh as we get into the the the roster freeze. And I’ll give you a direct example of how this has happened before. A year ago today, I would never have guessed that Dylan Cousins will be playing hockey for the Ottawa Senators. Yeah. Right. And it was about in American Thanksgiving that you started hearing whispers of his availability in Buffalo. And it ain’t any better in Buffalo right now. Yeah. Um Yeah. At least they scored a goal. Hey, one goal in two games. Yeah. Yeah. Um, but when you look at the way that that deal came about before Ottawa pulled the trigger on that deal, the Nashville Predators prior to the trade freeze in December were heavy heavy on Dylan Cousins, right? Because they thought he was available. They weren’t going to be able to do something, but they just didn’t have the salary cap space to make it work. They wanted Buffalo to retain. Deal kind of fell through. Well, Canadians aren’t going to be in that kind of a situation this time around because by the time you get to late November, early or mid December, they’re going to have closer to $10 million in cap space, probably, you know, 10 11 million. That will leave you open to have the cap space, the assets, and the timing to make that kind of a trade if a player like Cousins whom the Canadians were interested in would be available. And I think that’s where we’re seeing the Canadians now. And from the people that I’ve spoken to, everyone b expects the Canadians to be as aggressive in that front when a player becomes available that they like. Similarly to how they pounced on Noah the moment they heard that the New York Islanders were making him available because understand that Kent Hughes wasn’t the first one to that to that dance but when he found out that Noah adoption was available he jumped to the front of the line. Correct. And it helped that no adoption wanted to be here too. Right. Yeah. Well, there there were it broke down differently. So, no adoption wanted to stay in the east. St. Louis was very much looking at trying to acquire no adoption. The moment they found out he wanted to stay in the east, a lot of teams backed off. Then it became Montreal Columbus. The preference was Montreal. Uh, and you know, Montreal included two first round picks and Emil Hinimman that they they actually really liked and no adoption was uh aminable to an agreement for a contract with Montreal. The Canadians are very opportunistic, but have rarely had in season have rarely had the cap situation mirroring their I their vision for aggressive acquisition. Yeah, right. They were able to do it last year with with Alex Kerier because it it worked out with the numbers and you have Carrie Price on LTIR, but it would have been a little bit more difficult this year if they hadn’t traded carry price. Fair. and they hadn’t and they had started with 23 men instead of 22. So because of that, they’re now open to that kind of a trade. And I’d say in in response to last year, most of their assets available to trade outside of their first round, their draft picks are all a year older, a year mature, a year closer to the NHL, which makes them more attractive. You look at a guy like Logan Mayu. You don’t get Logan Mayu for Zachary Bzer unless St. Lewis believes that he is on the cusp of making it as opposed to being, you know, more of a raw prospect like a kid playing in junior like Bryce Pigford right now, you know. So, I think that’s the difference. There’s Marco Domo. I’m Sean Star. Make sure you’re at at MLAN’s on October 22nd for the live show. We have lots of prizes to give away, including our friends at Melas at Melisakhouse.ca. They’re open 7 days a week. Highway 132 in Ghanaag and no tax on that bill. Prime steaks, beautiful seafood, the fresh pasta made in house, premium cigars, Mela steakouses. Notice what De Mo and Star are doing. There he goes. Anytime I talk about premium food, Dico and Star are going to be there and we want to send you to Melas. And the only way you can get there, I mean, you can make a reserv reservation at at Mela Steakhouse.ca A or you can come win a free gift card, $100 maybe to spend at Mela’s only from your friends at the Star and Demo show. Get ready for the Montreal Canadians future. We’re going to be talking about Michael Hayes this weekend. Make sure you join us tomorrow morning at 10:30 as we recap the Montreal Canadians in Seattle Kraken. It’s the Havs home opener.

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The Montreal Canadiens have some cap space to work with, and Shaun Starr & Marco D’Amico break down what that could mean for the Habs in the NHL trade market. Could Montreal be one of the early trendsetters in trades this season?

From potential roster moves to smart cap management, we dive into what the Canadiens might do to improve their lineup, add impact players, and stay competitive in the NHL. Fans will want to hear our take on trade rumors, salary cap strategy, and how the Habs could shake up the league before other teams even make their moves.

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