Canadiens make no moves at trade deadline

TSN 690 Radio's Sean Campbell says the Habs might hold off from making a major trade before the NHL deadline on Friday.

Kent Hughes said he tried to make a big move before the NHL trade deadline on Friday, but the Montreal Canadiens ultimately did not complete a deal.

The Canadiens’ general manager added that discussions about the mystery player could continue during the off-season.

“We also looked at options that could have helped us in the short term,” Hughes said during a media scrum with Montreal reporters at a hotel in Newport Beach, California.

“In those cases, you also have to take into account your current roster and your prospects. You have to consider how a trade would affect all of that. If we had been able to get an interesting player at the right price, we would have done it,” he added.

The market remained relatively quiet across the NHL, as teams must respect a salary cap during the playoffs for the first time.

In the Canadiens’ dressing room, players had repeated over the past week that they were happy with the group currently in place.

“We like the fact that everyone is happy here, but that’s not going to stop us from making trades to achieve our objectives,” Hughes insisted.

The Canadiens GM noted he has added defenceman Noah Dobson and forwards Zachary Bolduc, Alexandre Texier and Phillip Danault to the team since the end of last season.

Hughes also stayed true to his habit of avoiding major moves at the trade deadline. Over the years, he has repeated that he would not sacrifice the club’s long-term future for short-term solutions. He followed that mantra again this season.

“Our goal was to find trades that would allow us to progress toward our main objective, which remains building a team that will be successful in the long term,” he said.

Before Friday’s games, the Canadiens held the first of two wild-card playoff spots in the Eastern Conference with 75 points. They were fourth in the Atlantic Division. They also had a three-point lead over the Columbus Blue Jackets, the top team outside the playoff picture in the East.

The Canadiens are scheduled to face the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night. They will then take on the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday before returning to Montreal.

Hughes did not want to be influenced by the fact that the race in the Eastern Conference appears wide open. Nor did he try to respond to trades completed by Eastern rivals such as the Buffalo Sabres and the New York Islanders.

“I don’t believe we’re in a position that won’t come around again in the future,” he said. “We want to make the playoffs, like several other teams that will also continue to improve. If we move away from our long-term plan, we could complicate things for several years.”

Last year, captain Nick Suzuki made a heartfelt plea, asking Hughes not to trade veterans in the final year of their contracts in hopes of making a push for the playoffs. The team went on to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2021, losing in the first round in five games to the Washington Capitals.

Laine remains with the Canadiens

While the Canadiens did not add players to the roster, they were also unable to move forward Patrik Laine.

The 27-year-old Finn no longer appears to be in the Canadiens’ plans after playing only five games this season before suffering an abdominal wall injury. He resumed practising with the team in January but has yet to return to the lineup.

Hughes also stressed that Laine is not a problem in the dressing room.

“He’s not a distraction and he hasn’t been to date,” Hughes said.

Although his name has not yet been removed from the injured list, Hughes said Friday that Laine is available to head coach Martin St-Louis.

After the trade deadline, NHL teams are no longer limited to a maximum of 23 healthy players on their roster. Laine could therefore return to the Canadiens’ lineup without the team having to place a player on waivers to assign them to the Laval Rocket.

Laine is in the final year of a contract carrying an annual cap hit of US$8.7 million. He will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 6, 2026.