Dave Pagnotta of The Fourth Period joined TSN Radio in Montreal and was asked what the plan is for the Montreal Canadiens. He stated that the Canadiens aren’t going to deviate from their plan as they explore all avenues to improve.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Montreal Canadiens Set Sights on Blue Line Muscle for 2026-27 Season
Host: “I want to leave a little bit of a window here for the Montreal Canadiens, because it is draft week and there’s a lot of wheeling and dealing and conversations behind the scenes, but it has been all quiet on the Montreal Canadiens front.
Gallo, and I discussed it, (Brendan) Gallagher could be on the move, maybe this week. Canadiens in conversations about many centers that could be traded. Brady Tkachuk is a big name. What other big names? Where are the Canadiens at? What have you been hearing, Dave?”
Dave Pagnotta: “Well, Canadiens like it quiet. It allows them to do their business the way they want, and as much as I don’t like it, I give them credit for still being able to keep it relatively quiet. But there are, the Canadiens, do a very good job, and I mentioned this 1000 times already, but just to reiterate, they do a fantastic job, Kent Hughes and Jeff Gordon doing the entire staff in keeping tabs on everything.
So when you hear that the Canadiens have checked in on Elias Pettersson, they checked in on Mason McTavish, on this player and that player, and so on and so on. It’s because they’re making sure that they understand the marketplace.
They know who’s available, who might be available, and what the price tags are. Doesn’t necessarily mean they’re engaged in trade discussions, but they are keeping close tabs on everything going on.
It’s no secret they want a right-shot defenseman. It’s no secret they are looking at enhancing their center position, and we also obviously know about the (Matthew) Knies deal that didn’t happen at the deadline. Which leads a lot of people to believe that hey, maybe they are also looking on that wing on that left side, presumably for that second line.
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The conversations obviously are continuing. I think they circled back. This is another scenario. Circled back with Philadelphia. What’s Rasmus Ristolainen looking like? Are there other scenarios that kind of come into play here for the Habs? Like, everything I’m saying isn’t necessarily anything new. It’s just the update is they’re still checking in on a lot of these different assets, and a lot of these big name players.
Like the Canadiens are still not going to deviate from the plan they put in place. But now we’re at a point in this plan where, and we saw a little bit of it during the season with the addition of (Phil) Danault and whatnot, but they’re starting to add some extra complementary pieces and some more higher-end pieces for this team to start taking next steps.
You get to a conference final, the expectations are going to continue to increase publicly, but the Habs are going to continue to do a really good job in just sticking to their guns and sticking to their plan. I expect them to make one like every summer, then they’re making moves, right? Every summer, they’re doing something of impact.
Last year was a lot more impactful by bringing in Noah Dobson. And I think they’d like to go that route again and are not afraid to spend the money to bring somebody in. It’s just a matter of who’s the primary target. And while there’s a lot of poking around, there was poking around on Dobson leading up to the draft, and then all of a sudden, bam, it ends up being him. That’s kind of the direction this is probably going to go for the Canadiens.
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We’re all looking left, and they come out of the right. With respect to Gallagher. They are trying to make that happen, and there have been talks with a few teams, not just the Vancouver Canucks, but trying to get him in an environment that gives him an opportunity to play more so than anything.”
NHLRumors.com Note: Executive Vice President Jeff Gorton met with the media on Thursday ahead of the Draft. He spoke about not wanting to rush into a move. He doesn’t think it is wise for the Canadiens to make a move or be pressured to do so because teams around them have. They are going to stick with their plan as they are exploring the market. His goal is to improve the team with calculated moves.
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