![\"Detroit](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/larkin.jpg\")
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<\/p>\nWith Dylan Larkin requesting a trade from Detroit, would he be a good fit for the Canadiens\u2019 second centre spot?<\/p>\n
Andr\u00e9 on Bluesky \u2014 @aptessier.bsky.social<\/p>\n
Definitely.<\/p>\n
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\u2019t become available very often.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
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 \u2014 slightly ahead of captain Nick Suzuki with a cap hit of US$7.875 million.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The Canadiens have reached a point in their rebuild where trading a top prospect like Hage is no longer unthinkable.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re certainly closer to being in a position where we would accept that scenario than when we first got here \u2026 where we would never have accepted it,\u201d Hughes said Monday when asked about acquiring players and contracts that would block the team\u2019s youth from emerging. \u201cSo we\u2019ve got to continue to make decisions here as we go. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf 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,\u201d Hughes added. \u201cDoes that mean that player becomes available to trade or do something else? \u2026 I think in theory, we\u2019re at a point where we might make a decision on something that makes it harder for another player to reach his potential.\u201d<\/p>\n
What final\u00a0letter grade would you give the Canadiens based on\u00a0their season, results and accomplishments? And what, if anything, do they need to improve and upgrade in the off-season?<\/p>\n
Ed Helinski, Auburn, N.Y.<\/p>\n
Before the season started, I wrote a column saying I thought the Canadiens had enough talent to come close to 100 points<\/a>. They ended up with 106 points and advanced to the Eastern Conference final before losing in five games to the Carolina Hurricanes.<\/p>\n \u201cHad you told us before the year that we\u2019d get 106 points and make the Eastern Conference final, I don\u2019t know if I would\u2019ve believed that,\u201d Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes said during the team\u2019s post-mortem Monday.<\/a><\/p>\n There\u2019s no doubt the Canadiens exceeded expectations, improving by 15 points in the standings for the second straight season.<\/p>\n When I asked president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton on Monday what impressed him most about his team this season, he said: \u201cI think in the National Hockey League, it\u2019s 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\u2019s very impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n Indeed.<\/p>\n For a final grade on the season I\u2019m 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+.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Easier said than done, but the future does look very bright for the Canadiens.<\/p>\n Which roster players are out, at least at this point? Please, what on Earth does management see in Alexandre Texier?<\/p>\n Jim Edson<\/p>\n 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).<\/p>\n Zachary Bolduc, Kirby Dach, Arber Xhekaj and Joe Veleno can all become restricted free agents on July 1. Bolduc isn\u2019t going anywhere, but it will be interesting to see what happens with Dach, Xhekaj and Veleno.<\/p>\n Dach was acquired four years ago from the Chicago Blackhawks in the hope he could become the Canadiens\u2019 second-line centre. That hasn\u2019t 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\u2019s time to move on.<\/p>\n Moving forward, there doesn\u2019t seem to be a spot on the Canadiens\u2019 roster for Xhekaj, who was a healthy scratch for all five games against Carolina in the Eastern Conference final. It\u2019s obvious that head coach Martin St. Louis doesn\u2019t 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\u2019s Laval Rocket to the Canadiens next season.<\/p>\n 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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n We\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n As for Texier, here\u2019s what head coach Martin St. Louis sees in him:<\/p>\n \u201cI feel with Tex, I think he takes care of the puck,\u201d St. Louis said during the season. \u201cI think he protects the puck really well in the O zone. I think he\u2019s very selective in what he\u2019s going to do with it. He\u2019s very composed with what the next play should be, whether it\u2019s going to be try to get a scoring chance out of a play or if I\u2019m just going to extend O zone, take care of the puck, protect it. He\u2019s very predictable.\u201d<\/p>\n Can the Canadiens afford to part ways with Arber Xhekaj?<\/p>\n Kris Sway<\/p>\n That\u2019s a good question since there aren\u2019t a lot of players like Xhekaj in today\u2019s NHL with his combination of size, mobility and physicality who can play the game and aren\u2019t just there as an enforcer.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s also the possibility of another team giving Xhekaj an offer sheet.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know if he gets enough credit for how skilled he is and how he can be good offensively for us,\u201d Canadiens goalie Jacob Fowler said about Xhekaj.<\/p>\n Lane Hutson said this about Xhekaj\u2019s willingness to defend his teammates: \u201cHe would do anything for the team, so it\u2019s pretty impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n Xhekaj would be a big loss but, as noted above, I don\u2019t think the Canadiens will have a spot for him in their lineup.<\/p>\n What was the trade deadline non-transaction for the Canadiens? Curious to know if it plugged some holes or opened others.<\/p>\n charby2.bsky.social on Bluesky \u2014 @charby2.bsky.social<\/p>\n David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported Thursday<\/a> 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\u2019s sources told him the second prospect was not Hage or Reinbacher.<\/p>\n Hughes said Monday that the \u201csignificant deal\u201d he tried to complete at the trade deadline can be revisited this summer.<\/p>\n 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. <\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Do you think there\u2019s a chance the Habs will negotiate with the Russians so the new kid can come here for next year?<\/p>\n Booonie on X \u2014 @BooonieNash<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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 \u2014 for one \u2014 would sign him. Do the Canadiens have to buy him out? Not clear on how all this works.<\/p>\n Ric Turpin<\/p>\n 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\u2019d 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s obviously an opportunity that\u2019s there \u2026 if it is,\u201d Gallagher said Monday when asked about possibly joining the Canucks. \u201cI haven\u2019t had an opportunity, really, with my agent to sit down. I\u2019m sure there will be a couple of places, to sit down with my wife and make sure what\u2019s best for our family and then you go forward. But certainly Vancouver would be a great place.\u201d<\/p>\n Rick Dhaliwal of Vancouver\u2019s CHEK reported <\/a>that Gallagher\u2019s agent, Gerry Johansson, has been given permission by the Canadiens to speak with other teams about facilitating a trade. According to Puckpedia,<\/a> Gallagher has a six-team no-trade list in his contract.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The Canucks are in a rebuilding phase after finishing last in the overall NHL standings this season with a 25-49-8 record \u2014 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI can keep playing,\u201d Gallagher said. \u201cHonestly, the way I feel, I just know it\u2019s not done. You never know how many years, but I just have plenty more to give. I just feel like around here, an opportunity\u2019s 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\u2019s tons more to give.\u201d<\/p>\n 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\u2019s last season as an NHL player.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n John Wood<\/p>\n That\u2019s not going to happen.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Also, even if Gallagher were to play in all 84 games next season with the Canadiens \u2014 when the NHL adds two more games to the schedule \u2014 that would only give him 995 career regular-season games. Gallagher was made a healthy scratch five times this season.<\/p>\n At this point, I think there\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n How many RFAs and UFAs are on the Rocket\u2019s roster? And will those numbers significantly affect what the Habs will do\/seek before October?<\/p>\n After i on X \u2014 @JMcinthe613<\/p>\n Veteran forwards Sammy Blais, 29, and Alex Belzile, 34, can both become unrestricted free agents this summer, along with both Rocket goalies \u2014 Kaapo Kahkonen, 29, and Hunter Shepard, 30.<\/p>\n Forwards Luke Tuch, Sean Farrell, Joshua Roy, Jared Davidson and Jake Chiasson can all become restricted free agents, along with defenceman William Trudeau. <\/p>\n None of those players appears to have a future with the Canadiens, so it won\u2019t really affect what the team does this summer.<\/p>\n scowan@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Canadiens](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/laine.jpg\")
Canadiens winger Patrik Laine speeds through a training-camp drill in Brossard on Sept. 18. John Mahoney \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n![\"Canadiens](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/knies.jpg\")
Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki stretches for the puck as Toronto Maple Leafs\u2019 Matthew Knies and Habs\u2019 Cole Caufield and Noah Dobson, right, look on during first period in Montreal on March 10. John Mahoney \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n![\"Canadiens](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/gally.jpg\")
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<\/p>\n