The Canadiens’ recent playoff run has shown that the team can now aspire to major honors, but it has also revealed some glaring weaknesses that have been evident for some time.<\/p>\n
The Habs need a right-handed stay-at-home defenseman and, above all, a second-line center capable of feeding the puck to and complementing Ivan Demidov.<\/p>\n
One name that has frequently been linked to the Habs is Mason McTavish, whether at the trade deadline<\/a> or following the Ducks’ elimination<\/a>.<\/p>\n The center could be a target for the Habs despite having a difficult season last year, recording 41 points\u2014including 17 goals\u2014in 75 games.<\/p>\n Additionally, he was benched twice during the most recent playoffs, which has fueled rumors that he could leave Anaheim during the offseason.<\/p>\n However, last season, McTavish recorded 22 goals and 52 points in 76 games, and we can assume he hasn’t yet reached his full potential\u2014a change of scenery could do him good.<\/p>\n Not to mention the opportunity to play alongside a certain Demidov.<\/p>\n Also, the Ducks forward is under contract for another five years with an average annual salary of $7 million. Considering the upcoming salary cap increase in the coming seasons, this isn’t a contract that’s likely to become problematic over time.<\/p>\n The forward could be an interesting bet for the second-line center position, and at 23, he would join a group of young players with whom he could develop over several years.<\/p>\n However, the Habs may well face competition for McTavish, as the Senators are also reportedly<\/a> looking for a forward to play in their top six, according to this Ottawa Citizen article by Bruce Garrioch<\/a>.<\/p>\n According to the article, a third team, the Flyers, has also shown interest in the center, and the Ducks are reportedly asking for a first-round pick and a player who can help the team immediately.<\/p>\n Could we see a bidding war for McTavish? And if so, will Kent Hughes be willing to pay the high price for a player who would be, above all, a gamble for the organization?<\/p>\n I doubt it, but if Anaheim’s asking price isn’t too high, it could be an interesting acquisition for the Habs.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIn a nutshell<\/p>\n \u2013 He’s drawing a lot of praise.<\/p>\n \u2013 The Finns are champions.<\/p>\n \u2013 The game-winning goal.<\/p>\n \u2013 The Yankees score 13 runs in a single inning!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Canadiens’ recent playoff run has shown that the team can now aspire to major honors, but it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":342638,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164],"class_list":["post-342637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/342638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}