Insider thinks Montreal and Washington could be trade partners
With Montreal's abundance of forwards under NHL contract and the Washington Capitals missing a pair of key forwards due to injury, TSN's Pierre LeBrun says that the two teams have been in communication regarding trade possibilites.
LeBrun mentions that the Canadiens have also reached out to other teams around the league to gage interest in some of their forwards, potentially including Jonathan Drouin, Evgenii Dadonov or Mike Hoffman.
"Well, certainly on paper you could see why the two teams would at least want to talk and I'm told there has been communication between the Caps and the Habs, but it hasn't gone very much past that. And the reason is, despite the fact that Connor Brown is gone six-to-eight months and the Caps do have his $3.6 million cap hit to play with. For now, Washington is intent on looking at its internal options, whether that's Connor McMichael, or Sonny Milano [who] they just signed and recalled. So for now, Washington wants to look at that." LeBrun said.
He added, "The Habs have not only reached out, I'm told, to the Washington Capitals, they've reached out to several clubs around the NHL trying to create a trade market for their glut of forwards, whether that's Evgenii Dadonov or Jonathan Drouin or Mike Hofmann and beyond. The Habs have too many guys up front, which is why there were some noteworthy healthy scratches every night with that team. So, we'll see where that goes, but certainly Montreal is looking to make a move."
He added, "The Habs have not only reached out, I'm told, to the Washington Capitals, they've reached out to several clubs around the NHL trying to create a trade market for their glut of forwards, whether that's Evgenii Dadonov or Jonathan Drouin or Mike Hofmann and beyond. The Habs have too many guys up front, which is why there were some noteworthy healthy scratches every night with that team. So, we'll see where that goes, but certainly Montreal is looking to make a move."
T.J. Oshie is expected to be out for a while with a lower-body injury, while Connor Brown recently underwent surgery for a torn ACL and will miss the next six-to-eight months.
It's easy to see why the Capitals and Canadiens could be trade partners, but if there isn't a deal to be made with Washington, Montreal General Manager Kent Hughes will seek out other options, as LeBrun mentioned he is doing.
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