With Dylan Larkin requesting a trade from Detroit, would he be a good fit for the Canadiens’ second centre spot?
André on Bluesky — @aptessier.bsky.social
Definitely.
The 29-year-old Larkin has scored at least 30 goals in each of the last five seasons and had 34-33-67 totals in 74 games this season. Players like him don’t become available very often.
Detroit Red Wings centre Dylan Larkin loses his stick while forechecking Canadiens winger Cole Caufield during second period in Montreal on April 8, 2025. John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette
Larkin, who is 6-foot-1 and 204 pounds, has five more seasons left on his contract with an annual salary-cap hit of US$8.7 million, which would make him the highest-paid forward on the Canadiens — slightly ahead of captain Nick Suzuki with a cap hit of US$7.875 million.
The price for the Canadiens to acquire Larkin would be very high and likely includes centre Michael Hage, their first-round pick (21st overall) at the 2024 NHL Draft who had 13-39-52 totals in 39 games this season at the University of Michigan.
The Canadiens have reached a point in their rebuild where trading a top prospect like Hage is no longer unthinkable.
“We’re certainly closer to being in a position where we would accept that scenario than when we first got here … where we would never have accepted it,” Hughes said Monday when asked about acquiring players and contracts that would block the team’s youth from emerging. “So we’ve got to continue to make decisions here as we go.
“If we make a decision that blocks a path for a certain type of player, then we have to make an evaluation as to what we do,” Hughes added. “Does that mean that player becomes available to trade or do something else? … I think in theory, we’re at a point where we might make a decision on something that makes it harder for another player to reach his potential.”
What final letter grade would you give the Canadiens based on their season, results and accomplishments? And what, if anything, do they need to improve and upgrade in the off-season?
Ed Helinski, Auburn, N.Y.
Before the season started, I wrote a column saying I thought the Canadiens had enough talent to come close to 100 points. They ended up with 106 points and advanced to the Eastern Conference final before losing in five games to the Carolina Hurricanes.
“Had you told us before the year that we’d get 106 points and make the Eastern Conference final, I don’t know if I would’ve believed that,” Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes said during the team’s post-mortem Monday.
There’s no doubt the Canadiens exceeded expectations, improving by 15 points in the standings for the second straight season.
When I asked president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton on Monday what impressed him most about his team this season, he said: “I think in the National Hockey League, it’s very hard to get better every year and not have some kind of a regression. I think our players are able to do that and take a next step forward and kind of take the leap through that just getting in the playoffs. I think that’s very impressive.”
Indeed.
For a final grade on the season I’m going to give the Canadiens a B+. A trip to the Stanley Cup final would have been an A and a championship would have been an A+.
In order to reach an A or A+ grade in the future, the Canadiens will need to find a legitimate No. 2 centre to play with Ivan Demidov, add another big, right-shot defenceman and bring more size and physicality to the roster.
Easier said than done, but the future does look very bright for the Canadiens.
Which roster players are out, at least at this point? Please, what on Earth does management see in Alexandre Texier?
Jim Edson
Patrik Laine is definitely on his way out as an unrestricted free agent, while Samuel Montembeault will almost certainly get traded and Brendan Gallagher will be traded or bought out of the final season of his contract with a US$6.5 million salary-cap hit (he will actually earn US$4 million next season).
Canadiens winger Patrik Laine speeds through a training-camp drill in Brossard on Sept. 18. John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette
Zachary Bolduc, Kirby Dach, Arber Xhekaj and Joe Veleno can all become restricted free agents on July 1. Bolduc isn’t going anywhere, but it will be interesting to see what happens with Dach, Xhekaj and Veleno.
Dach was acquired four years ago from the Chicago Blackhawks in the hope he could become the Canadiens’ second-line centre. That hasn’t worked out, and the 25-year-old finished the playoffs as a fourth-line winger. The Canadiens have probably seen enough from the injury-prone Dach to realize it’s time to move on.
Moving forward, there doesn’t seem to be a spot on the Canadiens’ roster for Xhekaj, who was a healthy scratch for all five games against Carolina in the Eastern Conference final. It’s obvious that head coach Martin St. Louis doesn’t trust Xhekaj defensively and a fresh start somewhere else would be the best thing for the 25-year-old at this point with David Reinbacher looking to make the jump from the AHL’s Laval Rocket to the Canadiens next season.
As for Veleno, the 26-year-old has shown he can handle the challenges that come with being a 13th or 14th forward on a team. I don’t think the Canadiens would want to put a younger player in that position and they might look at bringing Veleno back on a contract similar to the one-year, US$900,000 deal the Montreal native signed last summer as a free agent.
We’ll see.
As for Texier, here’s what head coach Martin St. Louis sees in him:
“I feel with Tex, I think he takes care of the puck,” St. Louis said during the season. “I think he protects the puck really well in the O zone. I think he’s very selective in what he’s going to do with it. He’s very composed with what the next play should be, whether it’s going to be try to get a scoring chance out of a play or if I’m just going to extend O zone, take care of the puck, protect it. He’s very predictable.”
Can the Canadiens afford to part ways with Arber Xhekaj?
Kris Sway
That’s a good question since there aren’t a lot of players like Xhekaj in today’s NHL with his combination of size, mobility and physicality who can play the game and aren’t just there as an enforcer.
I guess it depends on what the Canadiens might get in terms of trade offers for Xhekaj if they decide to move him either individually or as part of a package deal. There’s also the possibility of another team giving Xhekaj an offer sheet.
“I don’t know if he gets enough credit for how skilled he is and how he can be good offensively for us,” Canadiens goalie Jacob Fowler said about Xhekaj.
Lane Hutson said this about Xhekaj’s willingness to defend his teammates: “He would do anything for the team, so it’s pretty impressive.”
Xhekaj would be a big loss but, as noted above, I don’t think the Canadiens will have a spot for him in their lineup.
What was the trade deadline non-transaction for the Canadiens? Curious to know if it plugged some holes or opened others.
charby2.bsky.social on Bluesky — @charby2.bsky.social
David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported Thursday that Hughes came very close to acquiring forward Matthew Knies from the Toronto Maple Leafs at the NHL trade deadline on March 6 in exchange for Russian prospect Alexander Zharovsky, another top prospect and two first-round draft picks. Pagnotta’s sources told him the second prospect was not Hage or Reinbacher.
Hughes said Monday that the “significant deal” he tried to complete at the trade deadline can be revisited this summer.
The 6-foot-3, 232-pound Knies is a 23-year-old left-winger who had 23-43-66 totals in 79 games this season with the Leafs, along with 29 penalty minutes and a minus-30 differential.
Zharovsky, 22, is a 6-foot-2, 176-pound right-winger who was named the top rookie in the KHL this season after posting 16-26-42 totals in 59 games with Ufa Salavat Yulayev.
As noted above, the Canadiens need to get bigger and more physical, and Knies would definitely help with that. Knies has five seasons remaining on his contract with an annual salary-cap hit of US$7.75 million.
Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki stretches for the puck as Toronto Maple Leafs’ Matthew Knies and Habs’ Cole Caufield and Noah Dobson, right, look on during first period in Montreal on March 10. John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette
Do you think there’s a chance the Habs will negotiate with the Russians so the new kid can come here for next year?
Booonie on X — @BooonieNash
Zharovsky still has one more season left on his KHL contract, but I imagine the Canadiens will have talks with Ufa Salavat Yulayev about him coming to North America next season.
The Canadiens will definitely have a chance to speak with Zharovsky since Ivan Demidov said on Monday that his fellow Russian will be joining him in Montreal next week to train with him for at least part of the summer.
Can Montreal not trade Brendan Gallagher and get at least a draft pick for him? I know he has to agree to where, with a no-trade clause, but the Canucks — for one — would sign him. Do the Canadiens have to buy him out? Not clear on how all this works.
Ric Turpin
Hughes will definitely be looking to trade Gallagher, who made it clear when he met with the media on Monday that his days with the Canadiens are over. Gallagher also said he’d be interested in playing for the Canucks since he grew up in the Vancouver area, played junior with the Vancouver Giants and has his off-season home in Tsawwassen, B.C.
“That’s obviously an opportunity that’s there … if it is,” Gallagher said Monday when asked about possibly joining the Canucks. “I haven’t had an opportunity, really, with my agent to sit down. I’m sure there will be a couple of places, to sit down with my wife and make sure what’s best for our family and then you go forward. But certainly Vancouver would be a great place.”
Rick Dhaliwal of Vancouver’s CHEK reported that Gallagher’s agent, Gerry Johansson, has been given permission by the Canadiens to speak with other teams about facilitating a trade. According to Puckpedia, Gallagher has a six-team no-trade list in his contract.
If the Canadiens were to buy out Gallagher, his contract would count as US$4 million against the cap in 2026-27 and US$1.333 million in 2027-28, according to Puckpedia.
The Canucks are in a rebuilding phase after finishing last in the overall NHL standings this season with a 25-49-8 record — 14 points behind the Chicago Blackhawks, who had the second-worst record at 29-39-14. Bringing in a respected veteran like Gallagher would definitely help the Canucks with leadership and starting to build a new culture.
Canadiens winger Brendan Gallagher cuts in front of Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy as Dominic James trails during first period of Game 6 in Montreal on May 1. John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette
“I can keep playing,” Gallagher said. “Honestly, the way I feel, I just know it’s not done. You never know how many years, but I just have plenty more to give. I just feel like around here, an opportunity’s just not going to be there. So for me, I just need to find a new home and do what I do as a player. But I can certainly keep playing. There’s tons more to give.”
The Canucks hired Manny Malhotra as their new head coach on Monday, replacing Adam Foote. Malhotra and Gallagher were teammates with the Canadiens for one season in 2014-15, which was Malhotra’s last season as an NHL player.
Call me naive, but in order to properly bid farewell to Brendan Gallagher, what would you think of letting him play sufficient games next season to achieve the 1,000-game mark? At that point, we have a big night for him, then make him a player/coach.
John Wood
That’s not going to happen.
Gallagher was very upset about being made a healthy scratch for Game 5 against the Hurricanes and will be leaving Montreal with a bad taste in his mouth.
Also, even if Gallagher were to play in all 84 games next season with the Canadiens — when the NHL adds two more games to the schedule — that would only give him 995 career regular-season games. Gallagher was made a healthy scratch five times this season.
At this point, I think there’s a better chance of Gallagher being involved with the Canucks after his playing days end than the Canadiens if he chooses to stay in hockey.
How many RFAs and UFAs are on the Rocket’s roster? And will those numbers significantly affect what the Habs will do/seek before October?
After i on X — @JMcinthe613
Veteran forwards Sammy Blais, 29, and Alex Belzile, 34, can both become unrestricted free agents this summer, along with both Rocket goalies — Kaapo Kahkonen, 29, and Hunter Shepard, 30.
Forwards Luke Tuch, Sean Farrell, Joshua Roy, Jared Davidson and Jake Chiasson can all become restricted free agents, along with defenceman William Trudeau.
None of those players appears to have a future with the Canadiens, so it won’t really affect what the team does this summer.
If you have a question you’d like to ask for the weekly Habs Mailbag, you can email it to montrealcanadiens@postmedia.com
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