Finding a second center won’t get any easier in 2026

Dose
Crédit:

It’s July 11 and the Canadiens’ two biggest needs are still unmet: #2 center and toughness.

Although some insiders believe that transactions will take place in the next few days, we have to face the facts: the chances of Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton getting their hands on a second center in the opening days of next season are relatively slim.

Let’s just say that if I had to bet $100,000 on he’ll succeed or he’ll fail, I’d put my money on he’ll fail. Evgeny Kuznetsov may be available late in the summer, much like Patrik Laine last year, but I personally don’t see the Canadiens making him a contract offer.

Otherwise, the only center players with more than 20 points last season still without a contract are Jack Roslovic and Jeff Skinner. That’s it.

Could the Canadiens acquire their second center during the season, like they did Alexandre Carrier? I don’t think so.

Trading a diminutive #4 defenseman and trading an established second center are two different things.

At the deadline?

The center players who move at the trade deadline are likely to move to a city whose team aspires to win the Stanley Cup. Montreal isn’t there yet. #Crosby #Denver

And let’s leave transactions involving at-risk players who haven’t yet reached their full potential. What the Habs need, in the short to medium term, is a second center who brings certainty to the position. Not another project..

Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton don’t need to find a new project; the club needs certainty.
(Credit: Joe Sargent/Getty Images)

Clearly, this second center isn’t coming this year. And we’ll have to hope that it will arrive in 2026. Probably during the summer..

No, Michael Hage won’t be ready to occupy that chair anytime soon. He may never be, but we’ll see, except that in 2026, he won’t be playing center in the top six.

So what are the options for Hughes and Gorton?

A number of quality center players will reach the end of their contract in 2025-26: Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Martin Necas, Anze Kopitar, Evgeni Malkin, Charlie Coyle and Christian Dvorak Alexander Wennberg, among others..

Who among these players will still be without a contract on July 1? Very few..

Don’t dream too much about Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel!

There’s a good chance they’ll sign a new deal with their current team or be traded before April.

In short, the solution to filling the coveted second-center position remains either in-house (Bolduc, Dach, Newhook or Slafkovsky) or via the transaction market.

The salary cap may rise by several million dollars again next season, and Carey Price’s contract – like Patrik Laine’s – may be up, but it’s unlikely that the Habs will find their second center via the free agent market. The GMs of the other teams will be spending aggressively.

In short, there won’t be any easy ones, as the old saying goes.

And Jeff Gorton already knew that when he met the media at the end of last season. Go back and listen to what he had to say; he knew that finding a top-six center is (really) not easy. Talk to Marc Bergevin..

That’s why, if a GM somewhere is willing to give a number 2 left-handed center in return for Michael Hage and something more, we’ll have to give it serious consideration. The Habs need certainty.

Overtime

– We spoke to Marco Donadel this morning. He talked about Samuel Piette, a player on trial, Vrioni’s elbow and more.

– The guy who ate a volley from Nick Tarnasky tries to save face online. [HFans]

– Bryan Woo had a scoreless, hitless game after seven innings.

– There are several incongruities behind some of the decisions made at CF Montreal.