“The Canadiens are not against the idea of getting a second band-aid center”

Dose
Crédit: X

The famous second center is a topic of much discussion in Montreal. We’ve known for months that it’s the main need in town… except that it’s also a need elsewhere in the league.

It’s not for nothing that the Canucks are interested in a Steven Stamkos who’s (really) slowing down.

Of course, getting a guy who’d be around for the long haul (like Tage Thompson, for example) would be ideal. But in reality, that’s not necessarily realistic… so the club may be forced to opt for a short-term solution.

And according to Mario Marco D’Amico, who spoke on BPM Sports, it’s not an idea to be ruled out:

The Canadiens are not against the idea of getting a second band-aid center. – Marco D’Amico

The plan would be clear: go out and get a guy who could, temporarily, fill that position until a guy like Michael Hage comes along. It’s impossible to know for sure whether Hage will become a second center, but he’s the club’s best prospect to get there.

All of which means that options like Pavel Zacha, Nazem Kadri and Phillip Danault are possibly really on the table in town. We can imagine that there are others, but we shouldn’t assume that the club will only target guys who can help in the long term.

And that’s even if they’re not of Sidney Crosby’s calibre… who would also be, to a certain extent (due to his age), a band-aid.

We’ll be keeping an eye on all this over the next few months, but there seems to be a real possibility that the Habs will pick up a center who, in reality, won’t be coming to town for the very long term.

That says a lot about how much the club values Hage.

Overtime

– We’ll have to keep an eye on him tonight.

– Obviously.

– A first goal for Vinzenz Rohrer this season.

– I don’t see this happening in the short term.

– Classic.