Photo credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
The Canadiens are actively shopping on the trade market, and three players have just been named by the excellent Stu Cowan in that regard.
Yes, Kirill Marchenko is one of the names Stu Cowan associates with Kent Hughes’ plan.
The journalist doubled down on The Sick Podcast, and according to him, the Montreal Canadiens have identified multiple players who can help the team immediately.
Kent Hughes is focusing his efforts on trying to acquire one or two of those players.
Three very different profiles, but an obvious logic behind these targets.
Because Kent Hughes’ objective is very specific.
He wants a bigger team, a right-shot defenseman, and a forward capable of playing in the top six.
He talks about it at the very beginning of the following clip:
Kirill Marchenko is the star player we’ve been dreaming about for the past few weeks.
At 25 years old, he scored 27 goals and recorded 67 points in 76 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets last season.
His $3.85 million contract.
Kent Hughes targets size, defense, and top-six help for the Canadiens
Matthew Knies checks the size box.
The 23-year-old power winger produced 66 points in 79 games with the Maple Leafs, including 23 goals.
He earns $7.75 million per season and appears to be an excellent power forward.
Ristolainen addresses the need on defense.
The 31-year-old Finn checks the box as the big right-shot defenseman Hughes has been looking for for quite some time, according to Cowan.
He collected 14 points in 44 games last season, along with a solid +10 rating.
At $5.1 million, his cap hit remains reasonable for a veteran blueliner.
Three targets, three different price ranges, one common goal: make the Canadiens tougher.
Now the real work begins. Knies, Ristolainen, Marchenko: which one is Hughes willing to pay a premium for, and more importantly, what is he willing to give up in return?
Previously on Montreal Hockey Fanatics