The Montreal Canadiens have effectively announced to the other NHL teams, obviously particularly the "selling" teams, that they are absolutely willing to act as the third team involved in a trade (to retain salary).
The objective remains the same: to fill the bank of picks and prospects.
The other teams that would have done the same are: the Vancouver Canucks, the Anaheim Ducks, the Arizona Coyotes and the Chicago Blackhawks.
So definitely expect one of the following teams to be involved in the monster trade between the New York Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks for Patrick Kane:
Vancouver, Anaheim, Arizona or Montreal.
That's promising.
One thing is for sure, don't be surprised if the Habs' next trade is a three-team trade, in which Kent Hughes gets a draft pick or a prospect, without giving anything in return (other than withholding salary).
Example:
To New York:Patrick Kane (25% salary)
To Chicago:Choices and prospects50% of Kane's salary
Montreal:A Rangers pick or prospect25% of Kane's salary
We're using the Kane trade as an example here, because it's obviously the big deal in the NHL and because we know it will happen, but the thing to remember here is this.
It's very likely that the next Kent Hughes trade will be this type of trade (a three team deal).
At least, Frank Seravalli confirmed that's what the Habs are actively trying to do right now.
POLL | ||
27 FEVRIER | 23 ANSWERS Frank Seravalli may have just revealed the next trade for Kent Hughes Which one do you think is the best DG? | ||
Julien BriseBois (Tampa) | 4 | 17.4 % |
Kent Hughes (Montreal) | 12 | 52.2 % |
Don Sweeney (Boston) | 5 | 21.7 % |
Steve Yzerman (Detroit) | 2 | 8.7 % |
List of polls |