Canadiens avoiding knee-jerk reaction amid flurry of trades before NHL draft

Montreal Canadiens executive president Jeff Gorton speaks to the media during their end of season news conference in Montreal on Monday, May 5, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

BROSSARD — There has been a flurry of trades across the NHL leading up to the draft, but the Canadiens don’t feel the need to follow their rivals’ lead.

Montreal’s president of hockey operations, Jeff Gorton, is not inclined to act too quickly and risk regretting it later.

“We’re going to make calculated decisions on things we’re doing, and hopefully you’ve seen that in the past since we’ve been here and we’re gonna continue doing that,” Gorton said Thursday, the eve of the first round.

“Would we like to improve our team? Yes. Are we active, calling everybody, talking, looking at different situations? Yes. But honestly, we don’t feel the pressure from anywhere else to do anything that doesn’t fit into what we want to do.”

Among the most active teams in recent days are the Florida Panthers, Ottawa Senators and the Buffalo Sabres — all Atlantic Division rivals. The Toronto Maple Leafs have also added this off-season and hold the No. 1 draft pick on Friday.

“We know that our division is difficult. You know, we just came through a season with 106 points coming out of there,” Gorton said.

“We understand what they’re doing, we’re following it, and we’ll go from there. But I don’t think it’s necessarily the greatest decision that we would see another team do something and just react to it.”

The Canadiens’ management particularly identified a need to improve its defensive play during its end-of-season availability, a few days after the team fell in five games to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference final.

The team is also looking to add a second-line centre to slot behind captain Nick Suzuki and help winger Ivan Demidov in his development.

Gorton said general manager Kent Hughes has been speaking with several other NHL GMs. But nothing appeared imminent for now, even though Hughes has often completed major trades during NHL draft weekend in recent years.

Over the years, the Canadiens have acquired Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook and Noah Dobson at this point in the off-season.

“We would like to get better. We have our idea of what that takes,” Gorton said. “We know what we want to find, but it takes two to tango and we’ll see what the next few days bring.”

Gorton said he currently expects the Canadiens to make the 28th overall pick in Friday night’s first round, but he noted it’s difficult to predict which players will still be available at that spot.

Gorton added he expects the team to extend qualifying offers to all its players eligible for restricted free agency. That would ensure the Canadiens retain their rights, though those players could still accept offer sheets from other teams. The main Canadiens players in this situation are forwards Zachary Bolduc, Kirby Dach and Joseph Veleno, as well as defenceman Arber Xhekaj.

As for the future of veteran winger Brendan Gallagher, Gorton declined to give an update. Gallagher said at his end-of-season availability earlier in June that he did not expect to be back with the Canadiens this fall, even though he has one year remaining on his contract. If the Canadiens can’t find a suitable trade, they could also buy out his contract.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 25, 2026.

Alexis Bélanger-Champagne, The Canadian Press