The next player to be traded by Kent Hughes and the Montreal Canadiens has just been identified by RDS journalist François Gagnon

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Elias Edmonson
October 1, 2023 (12:15)

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Since his arrival at the helm of the Canadiens' management, Kent Hughes has managed to complete trades that make him look like a genius. Not only do his dealings always fly under the radar of hockey insiders, but the results are also always quite surprising.

The shake-up in the organization seems not to be over, and according to François Gagnon, the next player to leave the club would be none other than Christian Dvorak.

Dvorak, who is currently still injured, should return to play in the coming November, as Hughes recently mentioned. Gagnon firmly believes that he will only make a fleeting appearance in the lineup following his knee surgery rehabilitation.

"For me, Christian Dvorak is in Montreal temporarily. He will arrive, and the Canadiens, as soon as they can tell teams that this guy can help you at center, I feel he will be the first to leave because he hinders the development of young center players to complete the Canadiens' lineup." - François Gagnon

Dvorak, now 27 years old, was a 2nd round pick (58th overall) in 2014. He scored 10 goals and made 18 assists for a total of 28 points in 64 games last season. He will earn a salary of $4.45M per year until the end of the 2024-2025 season.

In a recent article, the excellent Arpon Basu mentioned that the player acquired to replace Phillip Danault and Jesperi Kotkaniemi in September 2021 has some value in the market. As a complete center, he could be valuable for a contending team, even as a third center. Here is his analysis of the situation:

"As a 200-foot center capable of winning faceoffs and playing on both special units, Dvorak would have good value on the trade market and could really help a contender, as a very good third-line center. With another year of contract [after this one] at an amount that is not too prohibitive [$4.45M], Dvorak is in the ideal position of a good player who should attract interest on the trade market and probably is not part of Montreal's plans for the future either. But he will only be traded if the return pleases the Canadiens." - Arpon Basu

So, the Canadiens could receive something interesting in exchange for Dvorak, contrary to what many believe.

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