It's about to go DOWN... - Montreal "VERY ACTIVE" in trade market

Something big is about to go down as a recent report from the fourth period indicates that Montreal is very active in the trade and free agency market. With the Stanley Cup final just finishing yesterday, we've already seen extensions, even a trade go down in the hours after. And with Kent Hughes looking to improve this roster this summer, we are ready for something big to be in store. We got to dive into this report from the fourth period, what the Habs are looking like, who we can be targeting. But it's not just that, Jesse. We're talking big. We're talking guys coming up from Laval to add physicality to add another element to this team just like Heinemann did last year and there's two standout names that we haven't discussed finally the rookie of the year odds for next year are out our boy is on top and also another note about a Russian prospect who has officially made the transition to North America for this summer a bunch of big stuff coming up on this episode of Habs Digest we'll start with Evgeny Velokhin Jesse one of our favorite prospects because it's so fun to say his name and per Hockey News Hub per his agent Go Habs Go Prospect that Evgeny Velokhin is currently in Montreal training now he was just traded from Sochi to Spartak um just awesome to see this Jesse I mean Sochi was very bad this year he didn't get much support but we remember his unbelievable MHL career look at those save percentages pretty solid rookie season for a 19-20 year old in the KHL I'm just very happy he's training in Montreal this summer maybe we'll see a bit of him at development camp or something just like we're seeing Bogdan regardless I'm glad we're seeing him over in North America for sure and we know that all the goalie hype right now is on Jacob Fowler for the Montreal Canadiens when we're talking goalie prospects but we can't forget about Evgeny Volokhin and all this Josh a very athletic skilled goalie still kind of coming into his own Josh but like we're seeing some really positive things and this is a young man who really believes in himself he was interviewed not so long ago and he said like he plans his goals to be a star in the NHL it's not just to make it like he wants to come and he's saying like guys like Shesterkin Bobrovsky Vasilevsky like those Russian goalies dominating the league right now Evgeny Volokhin wants to be that next name with name you know be that next wave of it that next generation of just Russian elite goaltenders that we're seeing right now and i mean it is impressive Josh that playing in Sochi one of the worst teams in the KHL impressive that he could get there so quick but then having like an above .900 save percentage on a very you know not good team as a young goalie normally that's kind of a recipe for disaster so i mean there's some positive signs here like we know the athletics there it's a more kind of bringing some of that technique in and then it all kind of ran out but Josh i'm just so excited to see him at the Montreal Canadiens development camp this summer because that's really where the rubber is going to meet the road and we're going to get a feel like okay where is he at in his development where could we kind of expect him is it kind of one year two years or is it maybe more so he's going to show us a lot kind of going forward where he's at and i think Ken Hughes will be very interested to see that yeah i mean he's a very interesting prospect now again his weight list on HockeyDB is 167 i believe he's probably heavier than that now i don't think that's changed since he was drafted but like you said athletic he's quick he looks very solid in net so i'm excited to see what his development curve looks like still young be very cool to see and again like you said so chip and you look at these stats like dude was facing about 30 shots a game right like a .901 save percentage with a 3.5 GAA the dude was getting shelled every single night but hey he did his best but just to stay on that note of Russian prospects i mean we're super excited for Evgeny Volokin um we are looking towards next year this is a little quick thing we wanted to mention because we've had some pretty good success with our Russian guy hey who knows where Bogdan's gonna end up after his KHL contract is over but just a little look forward into the betting odds for next year's Calder winner and uh well they're out now and to say it's a heavy favorite is maybe even an understatement plus 160 for Dmitrov and Nikishin's next closest at plus 800 look i know Jesse anyone can come out of left field and win the rookie of the year like no one expected Lane Hudson to do it this year except perhaps Habs fans who were very high on him but like the favorite I believe was Celebrini and for good reason he's an unbelievable player but a guy like Dmitrov to have this kind of commanding lead I mean just wanted to shout this out because again the whole hockey world at large sees the potential in this guy and he has he has the potential to do something unbelievable go back to back now with Lane Hudson I mean I love seeing him at the top of this list and when you're looking at these other names I mean why not like look at the body of work that Ivan Demidov has done in the past he rightfully deserves to be the heavy heavy favorite here I would say sleeper on this list could be maybe Zemperik um they're kind of going for but I think that our boy Ivan like that's gonna be his goal again he's like Lane Hudson he's kind of focused on that team success more than anything else but you know he's just going to come out gunning in this first year just getting a little bit of that practice at the end of last year I think is this going to really propel him to even just really start the next season on time and secure that goal I like Zemperik shoutout just saying you know a little bit of Lane Hudson similarity you know this dude is a bona fide offensive superstar at least was in the minor in the junior so gonna be very cool this year a lot of really nice rookies coming in so leave your thoughts on all our Russian boys down below but we want to take a little bit of a pivot and talk about the future of Montreal and again we're going to be talking about the report about the trades coming up very soon because this this is something we could very well address with a free agency signing or a trade but if we're looking to build from within there was an article that caught our eye today Jesse I will link it down below from from Tyler here saying these Rocket players put up the Canadian's physical game and he mentions a few players again there is Owen Beck Oliver Kapp and we've talked a lot about them but i mean we might even mention him here in a second too but if we're talking about physicality i wanted to just bring up Emil Heinemann first Jesse because when he came to North America we were like oh dang he has a great shot but that was kind of what we saw of him but you know what really made him a full-timer on the Habs it's that effort it's that physicality that heavy game that was so important in that bottom six playing with Jake Evans and Yoel Armia and if we're looking to continue to add stuff like that again we're losing a guy like Armia probably this offseason he might come back who knows there's a couple standout guys in Laval Jesse I mean my mind goes to Jared Davidson who plays a heavy game 24 goals in 69 games and Florian Jack guy who also had 24 goals in 69 games who also plays a very heavy game albeit a little bit slower but a little bit taller i mean you know to fix this physicality problem that Montreal seems to have a bit yeah you could go on that free agent trade market Jesse but we do have a couple of guys who are pretty close to being bottom six NHL ready pretty soon and i think this is actually a very interesting way to look at this situation for sure and that's the benefit of just having drafted so well is that you really want these guys from Laval like Flory and Jack Guy, Jared Davidson obviously back happening um they're all going to probably get some time with Montreal this this season here going forward it's going to be up to them to determine who gets that lion's share but it's really to kind of complement those high end picks that the Demidovs, the Caulfields the Suzuki's, the Reinbacher's and obviously like trades that we're doing and even like signings where it's like these depth guys it's really the complement and as we saw with the Panthers again it's important to kind of see what allowed them to have the success and back-to-back years where it's really not a fluke and i'll believe depth is a big part where they can really just roll four lines but like having like a very serious kind of third line right there and like for me i love that we're bringing up Flory and Jack Guy and all this because i believe like obviously he's gonna start on the fourth line with the Montreal Canadians, I believe he'll earn some ice time and he'll get more and more where Josh, I really I'm starting to believe that like he has an upside to be like to earn a spot on a very good team on a 3C and really contributing just in a massive way right like we see that offensive um upside but it's really that work ethic as well and I mean and our boy Jared Davidson, I think we need to give him a shout out as well like he will be a part of this team going forward as well and I think you know having that that depth throughout the lineup where again this is a guy that you know plays physically but just has a great shot just a very consistent guy which I find is so important in your bottom six like you want those reliable type of players we're just night in night out where you can really kind of bank on them and that's what I believe we have with Davidson and Florian and like it's really these solid picks that really kind of start to make the difference going forward getting back in the playoffs having that depth in the lineup of course they're going to need to work it you know and earn it to get that time for the Montreal Canadians but I mean I really believe that they're well on the way they're going to help this team yeah I mean very well and even if they don't get extended time in the NHL like to push other guys to be better to like hey look we're about to bring some energy we're about to bring heavy shots we're about to bring physicality and if you guys above us can't bring it like we might just force our way onto this team if this continues to be an issue for Montreal going forward so it's like you can't sleep on these guys ever and again we talk about Beck and captain who are going to make pushes to make the roster as centers this year Florian Jack guy has played a bit of center a lot of winger in Laval as well and again Jared Davidson heavy shot heavy game annoying to play against which is perfect but then you still have other guys like Josh Bock who has the most NHL experience out of most of these guys you still have guys on defense too there's so many guys that can up that level for Montreal and leave your thoughts down below on Florian Jared Davidson and all the other guys as well but you know Jesse when we're looking to address these holes in this roster there are holes right now in Montreal's roster a team that just made the playoffs as the youngest playoff team in history which is still one of the most insane stats i feel like people just kind of brush off it's nuts that that's true right but like this roster has some holes and we need to address them and right now trade and free agency is the way to do that and we have this from David Calabretta at the fourth period saying Montreal is looking to improve their roster in all departments very active on the trade front on top of the free agent market something to monitor in the coming weeks now again obviously we want to focus on to see that's kind of what everyone wants to talk about we talked about the Vanja yesterday whatever there's probably some more Rangers names, there's some Buffalo names, there's a bunch of names around the league, Mason McTavish, Anaheim, whatever it may be. But again, if we're looking to address these holes, that is the number one. But I like that we're here in the Habs reading on the free agent market too. And I know we're not going to overpay some veteran for a long-term deal in free agency. That's not the MO of this front office. But again, if we are purely talking about adding talent to a team, trying to take that step from where we are now to that next level, yes, these Laval guys could very well get in there, but we have a lot of great trade pieces and we also have to make this team better like you've said so much Jesse, like yeah we could try and rely on the young guys but I love that Kent is exploring all options to fill the voids on this team to just make this team better and honestly put pressure on our guys too to take that next step and this is interesting to hear because hearing that Kent Hughes isn't just active on the trade front yeah but also free agency as well like I think this just really speaks um to how motivated he is to find that right fit we thought for sure would be a trade just with all the picks and prospects that we have but even looking at just all avenues available like I just love to hear this Josh, do not listen to the negative Nancies, Kent Hughes is looking to improve this team in all facets and I mentioned kind of three key pieces I think the two firsts are the most important obviously second hand second line center we know second hand and then probably a right hand d uh probably you know even on that third pairing i think is okay it doesn't need to be like a top pairing even though there may be a space for that i think that's Brian Barker we're gonna leave that for him the other spot i think is maybe adding some grit in the bottom six and we spoke about some guys from about which i think could add that but if you want to kind of make them earn it and kind of give them a little bit of a grace period there i think that just makes a whole lot of sense going forward but josh like with such parity in the nhl can kent hughes really afford to just kind of sit on his hands here in this offseason with obviously the rabid fan base that we have here montreal like i just find like with the parity that we have it's a good gm it's scouting and it's really the character and the culture of your organization just gonna make the difference going forward like so many teams they're all so close and they're all looking for the same type of thing going forward so what is it that's really gonna separate these teams the winners from the losers i feel like kent hughes has obviously put a really good emphasis on that culture kind of handpicking a lot of these prospects these guys that we're talking about right he really knows this team inside and out and really knows how to motivate them going forward so really interesting to see and i'm just this is this great music to hear to my ears because you know we're hearing how just you know maybe how you know some options that we thought might be available aren't there but we know kent hughes he's cooking he's in the kitchen getting this done as we speak yeah for sure i mean looking around, I mean, with the sort of Panthers winning the Stanley Cup, I mean obviously they had a bunch of incredible talent a lot of that brought in by trade most of their top players, right? Well, a lot of their top players, I should say Marshawn nearly won the Conn Smythe as a trade piece, and Ryan was traded there, Sam Bennett was traded there so but at the same time you know what they kept saying it's like yeah we were just relentless, every it's a hard hard style of hockey to play and they all bought in and they played it because they all wanted nothing more than to win with the team to buy into everything they were getting told and to win, just to work their butt off every single moment, whereas from the Edmonton side you were hearing yeah they had their star players, they're saying we kept doing the same thing over and over again, it's not going to work when a team like Florida hounds you every single day, you got to be mentally strong, you got to have great leadership and you've got to also have those types of players that step it up when it matters most in the playoffs whether that's someone with big size more grit someone that can change the tune of the game and never let the other team get in front of me Florida had a bunch of those guys again Bennett the Conn Smythe always a standout performer but someone like Forsling on defense who just that has saved the team countless goals, right? There's so many different things right now that I'm sure Kent Hughes will be exploring all potential options, which is why he's looking at absolutely everything this offseason. And let us know what kind of move you think is going to come first this offseason. Will it be the 2C? Probably a trade before the draft seems likely. Will it be a free agency signing? We'd love to hear your thoughts down below, but that'll do it for this episode of Habs Digest. If you enjoyed, leave a like, comment, subscribe to the channel. Thank you for tuning in every single day. Ooh, the offseason is just getting started. I'm Josh Goss. I'm your host, Jesse Paglia. We'll catch you in the next one.