Indeed, the Boston Bruins added Milan Lucic, the Toronto Maple Leafs added Ryan Reaves, and Zach MacEwen is now with the Ottawa Senators.
With only Arber Xhekaj and Michael Pezzetta (at most) who can play this role for the Canadiens, they will therefore be heavily relied upon this season. Assistance would certainly be most welcome.
In this respect, it has recently been suggested that Kent Hughes take a look at one of his former clients, namely Mathieu Olivier.
The forward who currently plays for the Columbus Blue Jackets is an energy player who would clearly become one of the fans' favorites, should he end up in Montreal.
At 26 years old, he already has 15 fights in the NHL according to the excellent site Hockeyfights and he doesn't seem ready to stop.
As Keven Mawn from the site GoNordiques reminds us, Kent Hughes tends to want to acquire his former clients or even people close to him, as he did for Michael Matheson and Alex Newhook, among others. Seeing him interested in his former client would therefore not be surprising!
On June 21st, Olivier signed a two-year contract with the Jackets, worth $1.1 million. Convincing the Jackets' GM, Jarmo Kekalainen, to trade him could be difficult but not impossible.
Could a Joel Armia paired with a prospect interest them? It's just a suggestion, but one thing is certain, Xhekaj alone cannot be the team's enforcer for the entire season. The last campaign made us understand this as he was injured in this role...
As a bonus, watch the fight between Olivier and Xhekaj that took place on the Jackets' ice last November:
POLL | ||
JUILLET 16 | 760 ANSWERS Possible Trade Between the Canadiens and the Blue Jackets? A Contact of Kent Hughes has just been Linked to Montreal Would you trade Joel Armia and a 3rd round pick for Mathieu Olivier? | ||
Yes | 614 | 80.8 % |
No | 146 | 19.2 % |
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