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![\"Calgary](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/676077.webp\" "\\"Calgary")
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Photo credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
A rebuild in Calgary could end up benefiting the Montreal Canadiens.<\/p>\n
And one name stands out among the players being targeted by Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton: defenseman Zach Whitecloud<\/a>.<\/p>\n Elliotte Friedman dropped a major update over the past few hours.<\/p>\n According to him, the Flames have agreed to begin a full-scale rebuild, and naturally, that’s a major development when it comes to a potential Whitecloud trade.<\/p>\n Calgary finished 30th in the overall standings with just 34 wins and 259 goals against.<\/p>\n This is where the Canadiens could strike.<\/p>\n The source points to Whitecloud, a right-shot defenseman who would strengthen Montreal’s blue line.<\/p>\n At 29 years old, the blueliner isn’t known for putting up points, and that’s not his role.<\/p>\n He recorded 17 points in 78 games, relying instead on his reliability in the defensive zone and his physical play.<\/p>\n Calgary’s rebuild could open the door for a Zach Whitecloud trade to Montreal<\/p>\n One detail makes the idea even more logical.<\/p>\n Calgary now has Zayne Parekh<\/a>, 20, and Simon Nemec<\/a>, 22, on its blue line. Both young defensemen need ice time to continue their development.<\/p>\n During a rebuild, giving them those minutes takes priority over keeping a veteran.<\/p>\n For Montreal, the financial side is appealing.<\/p>\n Whitecloud carries a cap hit of just $2.75 million, a very reasonable price for such a reliable right-shot defenseman who is elite in his own zone.<\/p>\n The Canadiens have been looking for a right-shot defenseman to strengthen their blue line for quite some time.<\/p>\n He would be an excellent fit.<\/p>\n The trade would make sense for both sides.<\/p>\n The Flames would receive draft picks or prospects, exactly the type of assets a rebuilding team is looking for.<\/p>\n The ball is now in Kent Hughes’ court.<\/p>\n Previously on Montreal Hockey Fanatics<\/p>\n POLL<\/p>\n 5 HOURS AGO|192 ANSWERS<\/p>\n Elliotte Friedman reveals major Flames update that could benefit the Canadiens<\/p>\n Should Kent Hughes Try to Acquire Zach Whitecloud from the Flames?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Photo credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images A rebuild in Calgary could end up benefiting the Montreal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":804917,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,283041,283040,44,448,82,1215,175590],"class_list":["post-804916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-eliotte-friedman","tag-montreal-candiens","tag-news","tag-nhl","tag-sports","tag-trade","tag-zach-whitecloud"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804916","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=804916"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804916\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/804917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=804916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=804916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=804916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}