A veteran defenseman in Kent Hughes' sights?
As you may have noticed, after being very active at the draft, Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes was very quiet when the free agent market opened.
He made three depth signings:
On the other hand, today, he could possibly sign a veteran defenseman, to properly mentor his youngsters and bring some experience to the blue line.
As suggested by the excellent journalist Eric Engels, who covers the activities of the Tricolore for Sportsnet, Kent Hughes could be interested in veteran defenseman Anton Stralman.
Stralman, 35, had 23 points in 74 games with the Arizona Coyotes and 2021-22 (nearly 22 minutes of playing time per game). He also played big minutes for the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning.
Stralman is obviously late in his career, but he would be reliable and cost nothing. Plus, he has greatly helped youngsters like Victor Hedman and Aaron Ekblad, progress and become elite D's.
Both Hedman and Ekblad have always had good things to say about the role Stralman played in their development.
With the CH's many young D's, coupled with the departure of their coach Luke Richardson, it would make sense to sign a guy like Stralman (again according to Engels). Plus, he's right-handed,
Would you sign Anton Stralman, for one or two seasons, for less than $2 million a year?
Source and credit: Marco Normandin, HABSolumentFan
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 14 | 198 ANSWERS A veteran defenseman in Kent Hughes' sights? Would you sign Anton Stralman, for one or two seasons, at less than $2 million a year? | ||
| Absolutely | 130 | 65.7 % |
| No | 68 | 34.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
