Movement to come for the Canadiens: Kent Hughes has just bought himself some time

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Jeff Drouin
November 7, 2022 (10:10)

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Joel Edmundson's return to the game gave Kent Hughes quite a headache. However, he was fortunate enough to have Evgeny Dadonov go down with a virus and retroactively place him on the injured list. This personnel move allowed the veteran defenseman to make the CH's 23-man roster and regain his spot on the club's blue line.

However, don't expect Dadonov to remain on the injured list much longer. Prior to Saturday's game, there were many rumors that Hughes was actively trying to trade a forward to free up his lineup and prevent the return of the Russian forward. Josh Anderson's suspension after his hit on Alex Pietrangelo on Saturday night changes the picture a bit.

Indeed, the CH's GM will have more time to solve his problem of surplus forward, as Anderson will only return to the game next Saturday. A little game that can greatly help in the middle of negotiations.

If Hughes still has to deal with Edmundson, sooner rather than later he will have to deal with Mike Matheson as well. The defenseman is ahead of schedule in his recovery process and could be back on the ice before long. Along with Edmundson, the GM will have to find a spot for him on the club's 23-man roster. In this regard, he will have the same solutions, which are not always pleasant to apply.

1 - Trade two players (let's not forget that the Edmundson file is not yet settled), forwards if possible.
2 - Putting a veteran on the shelf and risking losing him for nothing (or keeping him, depending).
3 - Demote a young player to Laval. Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Kaiden Guhle, Jordan Harris and Arber Xhekaj should not go through waivers.

Take your pick...

In any case, the suspension given to Josh Anderson has just bought Kent Hughes precious time to make the right roster move, or to properly negotiate a possible trade in the middle of talks.