3 Habs players could leave the team before the season starts according to an insider

Despite the fact that Kent Hughes has managed to free up some payroll with a few trades in recent weeks, the Habs are still stuck with the salary cap.

With the recent signing of Samuel Montembeault, Hughes has just under $250,000 under the payroll and he will have to find a way to free up some money as new acquisition Kirby Dach is still waiting for his first contract with the Habs.

As reported by Olivier Paiement of Danslescoulisses.com, The Fourth Period suggests that three players could leave the team before the season starts, namely Mike Hoffman, Christian Dvorak and newcomer Evgeny Dadonov.





While the Hoffman and Dvorak rumors are no surprise to anyone, it's a different story in the case of Dadonov. The CH just acquired him, so it would be really surprising if he had to (already) re-trade, but Pagnotta seems to believe it.

Acquired in the deal that sent Shea Weber's contract to the Vegas Golden Knights, the Russian forward was sort of the Golden Knights' disliked but when the Habs acquired him, Kent Hughes had mentioned that he liked his offensive upside and that he could help the team in 2022-2023.


Could it be that Dadonov has just passed through with the Habs without even playing a single game?

It's hard to say because his value on the trade market is not very high at this time. However, if he had a good start to the season, Hughes could very well pass on him to another team and get something interesting in return.

Dadonov will be paid $5 million in 2022-2023 and will be an uncompensated free agent next summer, but no matter how many games he plays in a Habs uniform, it's a safe bet that his time in Montreal won't go down in history.

Credit: The Fourth Period