{"id":445504,"date":"2026-01-31T16:42:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T16:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/445504\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T16:42:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T16:42:07","slug":"kent-hughes-has-reportedly-identified-three-untouchables-in-canadiens-trade-discussions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/445504\/","title":{"rendered":"Kent Hughes has reportedly identified three untouchables in Canadiens trade discussions"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t \"Habs <\/p>\n

Photo credit: Screenshot<\/p>\n

The Montreal Canadiens are stuck in a high-stakes standoff where rival GMs are hunting for the absolute best pieces in the system.<\/p>\n

Eric Macramalla recently shed light on a massive roadblock facing Kent Hughes as he tries to fix his roster.<\/p>\n

Opposing teams aren’t looking at the leftovers. They’ve zeroed in on three specific targets that Montreal refuses to touch.
The market is starting to churn.<\/p>\n

But the price of admission is getting ugly for the Habs. Everyone wants a piece of the future, and they’re asking for the cream of the crop.<\/p>\n

The names Michael Hage, Jacob Fowler, and Alexander Zharovsky are the only ones coming up in talks for a blockbuster move.
Hughes has made it clear that moving any of them is a non-starter.<\/p>\n

Hage is the high-ceiling center the team desperately needs. Fowler is the clear-cut goalie of the future.<\/p>\n

Zharovsky rounds out this trio of untouchables that management won’t sacrifice for a quick fix.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the right move for the long haul. Fans don’t want to see the future mortgaged just to finish 20th instead of 25th.<\/p>\n

Kent Hughes must find a way to win a trade without losing his core<\/p>\n

This stubbornness puts the front office in a corner. If the best assets are off the table, making a splash becomes nearly impossible.<\/p>\n

Hughes needs to pull a rabbit out of his hat. He\u2019s looking for a dance partner willing to take a pile of draft picks or B-level prospects instead of the blue-chippers.<\/p>\n

Maybe someone still sees the elite potential in David Reinbacher?<\/p>\n

He\u2019s the wildcard in this whole deck. It\u2019s a classic game of chicken.<\/p>\n

Hughes is betting he can improve the group without tearing out the foundation he just built.<\/p>\n

The ball is in the court of the other 31 GMs.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ll have to blink first and drop their demands if they want to do business with Montreal.<\/p>\n

Will Hughes actually land a top-six forward without moving one of his big three prospects?<\/p>\n

Previously on Montreal Hockey Fanatics<\/p>\n

POLL<\/p>\n

2 HOURS AGO|212 ANSWERS<\/p>\n

Kent Hughes has reportedly identified three untouchables in Canadiens trade discussions<\/p>\n

Who would you sacrifice for a potential Robert Thomas trade?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Photo credit: Screenshot The Montreal Canadiens are stuck in a high-stakes standoff where rival GMs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":445505,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[72357,49,48,33244,8467,30650,743,448,82,8464],"class_list":{"0":"post-445504","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-alexander-zharovsky","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-jacob-fowler","12":"tag-kent-hughes","13":"tag-michael-hage","14":"tag-montreal-canadiens","15":"tag-nhl","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-transaction"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=445504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445504\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/445505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=445504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=445504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=445504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}