The Fourth Period: David Pagnotta on the trade speculation coming out of Montreal and if the Canadiens are going to make some changes.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Pettersen: “And over in Montreal, you know, trade rumors circulating last week that maybe they’re going to add to try to support their core. Do you think that that is something that’s going to happen? Do you think they’re going to let go of some of their players for teams that are looking to add depth, maybe later in the season? Are we going to see some changes in Montreal?”
Pagnotta: “The Habs are in an interesting position, because yes, Kent Hughes is out there, as we all know by now, looking to add either in the middle of their six upfront or on the backend to stabilize things.
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At the same time he’s looking for guys that complement the roster moving forward. These aren’t, these aren’t short-term fixes that the Canadiens are looking for.
Conversely, they have assets that could be short-term fixes for contending teams down the road. And this is all part of the early stages of trade discussions in the first month of the season. See what’s available, pounce later on.
The Canadiens have four players that are pending free agents, unrestricted free agents, with David Savard leading the way on the back end, and three forwards up front, and Christian Dvorak, Jake Evans and Joel Armia. All on expiring deals, and all are going to generate interest.
I think Savard and Evans are probably going to be at the top of some teams’ wish-list DB, and wouldn’t surprise me if teams try to pounce on that, but again, later on in the season, not necessarily now.”
Bernstein: “Yeah, I’m still cooking this if I’m Ken Hughes, without question, because I think Dave, if you hold Savard long enough, you should get a first-round pick. Like there’s going to be some team that thinks this is the last part of the championship puzzle. A reliable right-side, defenseman who’s physical.
Yeah, and it gives the other guys, you know, time to really develop their game. Because, you know, Armia hasn’t done much yet. A nice season last year, not, not so much this year, not a good start, you know.
So the other guys and Jake Evans, same thing. If they wind up having a good 30 game stretch, it raises the value of what they’re doing. But I wouldn’t be in a particular hurry. Certainly not on defense Dave, because he reconstituted the defense by making these trades in the offseason.
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So think a little bit more patience on the blue one and with the existing players. If you want to add this team’s always going to struggle to score. So I think you know a scoring forward would certainly help.”
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