The Montreal Canadiens are loaded with young defensemen and something may have to give
Arpon Basu of The Athletic: The Montreal Canadiens have some promising young defensemen not on their NHL roster – Lane Hutson, David Reinbacher, Logan Mailloux, Adam Engstrom and Justin Barron. Their NHL roster has four players who are 23 or younger.
Before the trade deadline, GM Kent Hughes was asked if they could move a young defenseman to clear a little room.
“We’re not in a rush because that’s not the type of trade that happens at the trade deadline,” Hughes said. “It could happen at the draft or in the offseason.”
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Jordan Harris was one defenseman people were speculating on. Arber Xhekaj and Barron are pending RFAs and will require waivers next season.
The Canadiens could move David Savard this offseason to create a roster spot for a younger right-handed defenseman.
Renaud Lavoie: “One thing totally obvious, Kent Hughes won’t have to trade or sign a UFA defensemen to make his team better. The @CanadiensMTL will have one of the best D corps in the NHL sooner than later.”
A goaltender is not the only thing the New Jersey Devils will be looking for this offseason
Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic: The New Jersey Devils had been looking to acquire a goaltender for quite some time. They weren’t able to acquire Jacob Markstrom, but they did land Jake Allen at the deadline. Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald.
“Well, we’ve been in the goalie market the majority of this year, for certain goalies that we felt were on the market. You know, going into the season — and you look at what possibly was available last summer — teams weren’t trading me their goalies, either.”
Allen waived his no-trade clause to come to New Jersey, and Fitzgerald told him that he sees him as part of veteran one-two tandem next season. They’ll try again this offseason to add someone like Markstrom or Juuse Saros.
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Fitzgerald said that he’ll also be looking for some physical wingers to help create some space for their more offensive guys.