NHL teams aren't too keen on making trades early in the season but some injuries around the league could force some clubs to take some action. TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun sheds some light on the injury situation in Utah, discuss where the Canadiens are at in their rebuild process and whether or not they would be open to making changes with their roster.
But I do think if the losses pile up then they're going to be forced into more meaningful trade discussion and already, from talking to other sources around the league, I'm told that Armstrong certainly is calling around at least to get an idea if he decides to go down that route. The reason, I think, for Utah that a rental player would be more appealing than a guy with term is because Durzi and Marino are coming back at some point.
I know it's still early, but could they be looking to fill some holes before they fall so far behind that they can't recover?: Well Gino, first of all, let's be real here, I know what was said or not said at the start of the year, but the reality is, internally, my understanding is I don't think they felt the playoffs were realistic.
No, it has fuelled Kent Hughes to maybe make more calls than he might have this early in the season. We'll see where it leads.One is that the Habs aren't going to mortgage the future in any kind of deal - the long term still trumps all. The other thing is that they're right at the cap, so it's got to be apple to apple, in terms of a salary coming in, a salary going out, which also adds to the difficulty of making that kind of trade this early in the year.