Another Shea Weber-like trade for Kent Hughes and the Habs?

According to what the excellent journalist Arpon Basu just reported, in a recent piece for The Athletic, Byron is back on skates.

On the other hand, it's worth mentioning that a return to action is still highly unlikely for Paul Byron, especially not this season.

The important thing to note, however, is that Byron is feeling much better, which is great news for his day-to-day life as well.

Remember that Byron was placed on the long-term injured list last October and is in the final year of a four-year contract paying him $3,400,000 per year.

He will be free as a bird this summer.

For all of the above reasons, because a return to play in the short term seems impossible for Byron and because his contract is on the long-term injured list, reporter Basu made another interesting point.

What if Kent Hughes completes another Shea Weber-like trade, but by the trade deadline?

According to several experts, including Arpon Basu, it would be absolutely possible to see Kent Hughes attempt to trade Byron's contract to a team looking to give itself more payroll flexibility. (by placing the contract on the infamous LTIR)

This would be an unexpected trade, especially because Byron's name isn't really floating around anymore due to his injury, but it would be a real possibility.

Of course, let's remember that Kent Hughes managed to get his hands on Evgenii Dadonov by trading Shea Weber's contract to the Vegas Golden Knights last summer.

Will he do it again with Byron's contract? To be continued, but let's bet that a team like the Tampa Bay Lightning would love it!

And for the Canadiens, it could be an extra draft pick.

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