The rebuild: Kent Hughes spoke to Barry Trotz about a player at the trade deadline

Dose
Crédit: MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 10: Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes addresses the media on February 10, 2022, at Bell Sports Complex in Brossard, QC (Photo by David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Have you watched the latest episode of La reconstruction, on Crave? If not… go do that if you get the chance. Because there are some great moments that were captured on camera, and it makes for a great result. There’s one scene in particular that’s interesting, by the way. Kent Hughes is talking to “Barry” (probably Barry Trotz) about a player for a possible trade. We hear the GM of the Canadiens ask Barry if a player is still available before the NHL trade deadline. And we don’t hear the name of the player in question… for obvious reasons. That said, with Dach injured and the Habs needing a second center to make a playoff push… it’s logical to wonder if he was talking about Ryan O’Reilly.

[content-ads] After all, O’Reilly was a coveted player at the deadline.

The Predators were really bad, the team was positioned at the bottom of the NHL’s overall standings and in Nashville, Barry Trotz was expected to be a seller. Unless Hughes was interested in picking up a guy like Jonathan Marchessault, Luke Evangelista or Tomas Novak? These players would have added depth to the lineup, and the Canadiens’ defense was starting to look solid at the time… even if Kaiden Guhle was injured. Let’s remember one thing: just a few months before the deadline, the Canadiens and the Preds concluded an important transaction.

Alexandre Carrier went to Montreal while Justin Barron went to Nashville… and we know that in the NHL, relationships between GMs are important. We could have seen the Habs and Predators move again, to put it another way. But it’s pertinent to ask who Kent Hughes was talking about… because clearly, this player was of interest to Montreal management.

[spacer title=’Overtime’] – To be continued…

– Nice goal.

– Well done, Felix!

– News in MLB.