{"id":386248,"date":"2025-11-17T23:11:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T23:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/386248\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T23:11:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T23:11:12","slug":"canadiens-rumour-linked-to-stamkos-better-target-available","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/386248\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadiens Rumour Linked To Stamkos, Better Target Available"},"content":{"rendered":"

While the Montreal Canadiens<\/a> deal with a bevy of injuries<\/a>, the rumours linked to the team have started to multiply.<\/p>\n

The Habs were among the teams interested<\/a> in signing former Toronto Maple Leaf, and current Vancouver Canucks forward David Kampf. That ship has obviously sailed, but it\u2019s far from surprising that general manager Kent Hughes showed interest in a centre who happens to be left-handed. As it stands, not only do the Habs desperately need reinforcements, they also lack a centre who shoots left.<\/p>\n

Former Star Player Available<\/p>\n

According to Jeff Marek, the Canadiens are among the teams that have inquired about Nashville Predators forward Steven Stamkos. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhere could Stamkos end up?\u201d asked Marek on the Sekeres And Price Show.<\/a> \u201cMake no mistake about it, Vancouver is part of that conversation, as is Montreal, as are a number of teams. I don\u2019t know about full freight, but I know they\u2019re in the conversation there.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to pay close attention to the information provided by Marek. While he does confirm the Canadiens are \u2018part of that conversation\u2019 regarding Stamkos, he did not suggest a deal is imminent. He also mentioned players such as Jonathan Marchessault and Filip Forsberg as potential trade targets should the Predators decide to make wholesale changes.<\/p>\n

Given that Stamkos is currently serving as a left-winger for the Predators, and has slowed down considerably in recent years, I\u2019m not sure if there\u2019s a fit between the player and the team. He\u2019s right-handed, and is in the second year of a four-year contract<\/a> that carries an $8 million annual average value (AAV). It should be noted that he\u2019s registered just five points in 20 games, far from the type of offensive contributions you would expect for a player earning that much money.<\/p>\n

This seems more like a due diligence situation than a serious inquiry by the Canadiens. <\/p>\n

A Better Option For The Montreal Canadiens<\/p>\n

With that in mind, there is one player in the Predators lineup that would certainly garner a fair amount of interest in Montreal, as well as around the league.<\/p>\n

Centre Ryan O\u2019Reilly continues to put up very impressive underlying numbers, and is currently second in Predators scoring with 13 points in 20 games. He\u2019s left-handed, an area of weakness for the Habs, and he provides the type of veteran presence that could help the youngest team in the league.<\/p>\n

Additionally, O\u2019Reilly is only making $4.5 million per season<\/a>, on a deal that expires next summer.<\/p>\n

In other words, there\u2019s very little long-term risk tied to his contract, unlike most veterans in the NHL.<\/p>\n

Of course, the cost of acquisition would be relatively high, as the NHL\u2019s Trade Market is rather barren when it comes to legitimate trade options.<\/p>\n

According to Alex Daugherty<\/a>, who covers the Predators for the Tennessean<\/a>, if Nashville does end up moving O\u2019Reilly, the price tag would likely be similar to what the New York Islanders received for Brock Nelson: a first-round pick and a talented prospect. To clarify, Daugherty was speculating as to the potential cost, not reporting it as a fact. <\/p>\n

The first-round pick would not be an issue for the Canadiens, as they\u2019re willing to spend quality assets if the player they\u2019re acquiring holds value, but the situation becomes more complicated once we reach the prospects that could end up in play.<\/p>\n

The Predators would be probably interested in forward prospects such as Michael Hage and Alexander Zharovsky, while the Montreal Canadiens would likely be inclined to move any forward prospects except for the aforementioned duo.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\t\t\"avatar\"<\/p>\n

\t\tMarc has been covering the Habs for over a decade. He previously worked for Journal Metro, The Athletic, The … More about Marc Dumont<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While the Montreal Canadiens deal with a bevy of injuries, the rumours linked to the team have started…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":386249,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[3104,293,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-386248","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-montreal-canadiens","9":"tag-nhl","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115567571010302091","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}