Two Canadiens Insiders Believe a Promising Young Defenseman Will Be Traded This Summer In Exchange for a Star Forward

Several issues must be resolved, notably that of adding real offensive talent to the organization by acquiring at least two promising young players, using its deep defensive lineup to make a major trade.

Kent Hughes has already publicly stated that he wants to use his many assets to make a trade "à la Kirby Dach," that is, to add a player who can play in the top-6 of the team.

To make this acquisition, the GM will have his hands full, with four first-round picks for the next two drafts, as well as several young defensemen who could have an interesting market value.

With Michael Matheson, David Savard, Kaiden Guhle, Arber Xhekaj, Jayden Struble, Johnathan Kovacevic, Jordan Harris, Justin Barron, David Reinbacher, Logan Mailloux, and Lane Hutson, to name just a few, it's clear that Hughes will need to act to somewhat streamline his pool of defensemen to optimize the performance of each of them.

They will not all be able to play optimally in Montreal or Laval next year.

On BPM Sports, the topic of a major trade involving a promising young defenseman to add a real top-6 talent was discussed yesterday.

It's clear that Hughes will inevitably have to trade one of them to acquire the missing piece on the top-6. Laraque suggests that the Canadiens would let go of Lane Hutson, while Gonzo believes more likely it would be Logan Mailloux.

One thing is certain, it seems almost impossible that Hughes would agree to move Kaiden Guhle, given that he is already established in the NHL. It is also very unlikely that David Reinbacher would be involved in any trade due to his recent selection as the 5th overall pick.

Trading him for a forward now would be like publicly admitting they made a mistake in their controversial selection last year, when there were indeed very good players available in the 2023 draft at that pick, including Matvei Michkov, Ryan Leonard, and Zach Benson.

So it would be between Lane Hutson and Logan Mailloux according to the two hosts, we could also add Arber Xhekaj's name into the equation, who also has excellent trade market value.

For my part, Hutson is untouchable. He is the only one with true potential to become an elite player among all the current defensemen in the organization. He is significantly better offensively than Mailloux, and due to the defensive shortcomings of the first-round pick in 2021, Hutson is not far off in terms of defensive performance from Mailloux.

If the Rocket's defenseman can allow us to get our hands on an offensive gem that can play in the top-6 of the Canadiens as early as next year, I say absolutely yes.

In your opinion, which defenseman would be the most expendable for the Canadiens?