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The Canadiens are linked to another potential second-line center.
The Montreal Canadiens have excitement building around them this season. Patrik Laine is in a contract season, Lane Hutson is on an Olympics snub revenge tour, and Ivan Demidov is looking to have a breakout rookie season. The only thing that appears to be missing is a second-line center.
Kirby Dach is an internal candidate to fill that role. However, some external candidates could be acquired to help the Canadiens in the short term. One that was recently named was Charlie Coyle of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Canadiens Could Look to the Blue Jackets For Help
In addition to Yegor Chinakhov requesting a trade, Coyle is a player who has been identified as a trade target. Coyle has one year remaining on his contract, paying him $5.25 million.
In speaking with Tony Marinaro on The Sick Podcast, NHL analyst Travis Yost name-drops Coyle as a player that the Canadiens could look at to fill their second-line center role.
“Charlie Coyle would be another interesting name of a player who is now in a new market with Columbus,” Yost said to the host. “Don’t know how tied they are to the player. In terms of ‘hey, that is a known quantity and maybe a player on a potential seller that I can go ahead and target,’ I think that makes a ton of sense.”
Coyle is a 6-foot-3, 215 lb center who can provide secondary scoring. The 33-year-old was initially drafted 28th overall by the San Jose Sharks in 2010. He spent time with the Minnesota Wild, Boston Bruins, and Colorado Avalanche before landing with the Blue Jackets this summer.
In the 2024-25 season, Coyle recorded 35 points in 83 games while playing 17 minutes a night. The previous year, he played 82 games for the Bruins. He set career highs for goals (25), points (60), and time on ice (18:04).
Canadiens Have Many External Options
Coyle isn’t the only trade target the Canadiens could consider. On The Fourth Period’s Summer trade board, several players could make sense for the up-and-coming team.
Mason McTavish, Marco Rossi, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, and Pavel Zacha all appear on David Pagnotta’s list. Casey Mittelstadt is another name that has emerged as a player the Bruins have considered trading away.
Rossi makes sense as a long-term fit because of his talent and age. Despite recently signing an extension, it’s not out of the realm of possibility for him to be traded in the near future.
McTavish also makes sense as a long-term solution. His play style is more gritty than Rossi’s, but he’s no less skilled than his Wild counterpart. McTavish is also waiting for a new contract from the Anaheim Ducks.
Zacha, Pageau, and Mittelstadt don’t appear to be ideal fits on paper. All three have multiple years left on their contracts, making them less likely to be stop-gap options.
Do the Blue Jackets Want to Keep Coyle?
Considering that the Blue Jackets acquired Coyle this past summer, the likelihood of him being traded again is undoubtedly low. Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell revealed some insight into the acquisition.
“It was important to get a right shot guy and get somebody with Charlie’s experience that will make our team stronger up the middle,” Waddell said to James Murphy of RG. “The homework on him that we did and my staff did told us he is an outstanding person, an outstanding teammate, a great leader.”
“We got so many good young players and so many good veterans right now to add another veteran, this kind of piece to our team, we thought was important to us.”
They won’t trade him away before the beginning of the season; that much is clear. However, if things start to go off the rails for Columbus – and the Canadiens occupy a playoff position – it would be a shrewd addition for Montreal.
Caleb Kerney Caleb covers the NHL for Heavy.com. He has covered professional hockey since 2022, including bylines at Dobber Prospects, The Hockey Writers, and The Hockey News. More about Caleb Kerney
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