Habs trade talks heating up... - Multiple moves incoming?

Trade talks are intensifying right now in Montreal after crushing the Boston Bruins and taking the lead in the Atlantic Division for at least a few minutes before Tampa's game ended. A lot of people are still focusing on how Montreal can continue to improve this season, and two names have been surfacing in a lot of articles lately, Kirby Dock and Samuel Montembeau, with one painting them as the prime trade candidates for Kent Hughes, but another sneaky young name has also entered his way into the conversation. We're going to discuss all of that, but speaking of young players, Gleb Pogacab over. in Russia has been absolutely dominating people not just physically as you can see here but also on the scoreboard four points in his last two games coming in a pretty incredible way we're going to dive into all of that coming up on this episode Gordie Howe hat trick for him stick around to see all that but first things first you guys subscribe like crazy last night we are currently one subscriber away from 29,000 if you click subscribe right now it's completely free You will be the 29,000 subscriber. Let us know if you are number 29,000. Literally one sub away. You can't make this up. It's incredible. Thank you so much for tuning in. Jesse, we got to talk about Gleb. Gleb is Gleb. Gleb is a legend. Here's just a still of him punching someone in the face. He did this about 30 times in the fight. I'll show you another couple of clips here. I hope YouTube is okay with this. But he has been on an absolute tear lately. Just take a look at what he's been doing. Gordie Howe hat trick on November 12th. Two assists in the game before, four points in his last two games. He was our 26th overall pick. He's known for his heavy physical game. Jesse, he's already surpassed his penalty minute total of last year. He's finally picking up. I'm wondering if that concussion earlier this season really did affect him because this guy looks like a different beast right now. Yeah, absolutely. And this was one of the most dominant fights that I've ever seen for somebody who probably like many of you grew up on Rock'em Sock'em Hockey from Don Cherry. Again, just glad it's at a level with the physicality. It's truly a deterrent out there. And that's why the Montreal Canadiens are going to be scary, shorter, sooner rather than later, because I mean, at 6'3", 225, the frame is already NHL ready. Now we're seeing some of the points to come along with. Yes, at the NHL, but that's completely normal for his age, for his development path. He's not a sniper. He's going to get his goals. It's going to be at the front of the net. And that's where I like to see him really doing it, operating from there. Seven points in his last five games. Again, we know that the physicality is there. Maybe throw in a couple extra that he shouldn't be doing in this one here. But we know that's just part of his personality. But if we know we can get some of the... points in some of that production as well I think just rounds out what this team again truly needs is as we're shaping into a playoff type contender you got to feel like a guy like Gleb can come in you start to think of guys like Arbor Jack guy, Florian Jack guy, Josh and just so many different guys that can really drop the mist this is a guy that can be an impact player at that time of year in the playoffs where I feel like Gleb could truly shine. Yeah, like he's picking up, you know, a bit of the Florian Jack guy style of game, but you know, like, I don't know, like these kind of guys, you can't have enough of them. And we're hoping to have a bit of a physical edge for this team for the foreseeable future. And one of the guys we got who maybe was more physical in the past, Chris Kreider did get hurt recently. So we're wondering maybe could Florian Jack guy step up? We still don't know how long Kreider is going to be out. But anyway, that's a story for another time. But you're right. I mean, the physicality here is incredible when you can combine him finally getting points. And again, this is the NHL. It's it's not, you know, the top of the top. It still is something, especially compared to the start of the year. And all you can look for is improvement. And he's done that physically. He's done that on the score sheet. We're going to continue to monitor. Leave some love for our boy Gleb down below. But we have to talk about the current situation because there are some big decisions to be made for Kent Hughes. And there is no doubt that there are moves coming this year. I think we can all agree it's essentially a guarantee. But right now, a recent article put Kirby Dock and Samuel Montalbo on the trade board. for Montreal and it makes a lot of sense. Let's dive into some of the quotes here from Michael DeRosa's article linked down below. As always, questions about their futures in Montreal have come up for a while now and they are both pending unrestricted free agents. I mean, straight up, this is very true, right? Kirby Doc has been playing very, very well as of late. And I said this to you yesterday, like that's probably why I would trade him soon. And I really, really like Kirby Doc. I've loved what he's brought lately. Marty Sandler, we just love what he's brought. The thing is, and maybe we'll get to DeMonte in a moment. The thing is, we know he's a bit injury prone and we don't know how long this is going to last. Is his value going to just keep going up from here? Are we going to keep him past this year? The thing is, we have to make room for Hage and Jorovsky. And we also can't run a three-goalie rotation. And just on Doc here, the quote from the article says, look, if we don't view Doc as part of the long-term plan, he could be a good trade chip. Focusing on him specifically, I mean, I can't disagree with anything here, Jesse. As great as he's played, I don't know if his value is going to go much higher than it is right now. I think he has a great future, but I just don't necessarily think it's going to be in Montreal. And I really feel like Kirby Dock is an Edmonton Oiler type of gamble. I see him going out West again, where he's from, just maybe that type of reunion. Again, in a contract year, we knew we're just signing the one-year deal, regardless of how he plays. It's either he plays well, he raises his trade value up for a trade, or obviously, again, even if he doesn't play well, again, just necessitates the reason why he was signed to just. a one-year deal so again i just like to see kirby dog playing well as a person i wanted to see him succeed somewhere it's just obviously the bottom six is getting so filled up right now and they're gonna maybe start to look at a guy like florian jack guy or owen beck and say do we potentially want to prioritize their development over a kirby doc right now and again he's playing very well But it's the consistency, which is the biggest thing where you're right, Josh, to have some apprehensions of even if we do see him playing well again, do we have a large enough of a sample size? Because we are familiar with Kirby Doc for many years now. That being said, we know that he's a great hockey player. And in fact, I have my suspicions that he can maybe turn it on in another type of environment here. So all the writing is truly on the wall for him to make a move in the near future. Again, like guys like Hage, the Roxy coming, Demidov. Kreider getting injured, it only punts down, again, the fact that we don't need to make a decision, but only to a certain point, right? Like, this season, before Hayes and Zdorovsky come, Kent Hughes is going to definitely want to get ahead of all of this. You absolutely have to, because the last thing you want to be doing, and it's something I agree, I don't think Kent Hughes is going to do, is be scrambling last minute to try and make roster space. And, like, you don't want to be in a position, it is going to be a bit of a weird time there, like, post-trade deadline, pre-Michael Hayes. I'm still not sure if Swarovski is going to be like NHL ready right away. I think he probably will be, but there's a world where he goes to the AHL, which makes it a bit easier. But like Hage, certainly an NHL player. And so, you know, like post-trade deadline pre-Hage. What do you want? Like some of your AHL guys fill in those minutes. They got like Flory and Jack. I take a couple like months and just be that guy. Yeah, it's going to be tough. But also like in net, like we got to talk about this too, Monty. And it's completely understandable if they move Montemot, if they can find a suitor, because he's probably going to have a few games in Laval. And we'll just give you a little summary here, a little market read. Doc right now, six points in 16 games. Well, actually seven points now. He's got two goals after yesterday's performance. But still, regardless, Monty, 872 save percentage last year. Not great. Um, Draeger said on TSN 690 a little while ago, interest in Monty, market's not strong yet. And we also heard Monty might play a few games in Laval. And just a note on Monty, again, unrestricted free agent. You know, it's like that meme with, like, the mom holding up the baby in the pool, and there's one kid drowning, and then there's, like, the skeleton in the bottom of the pool. I think I saw someone post that, and it's in the bottom of the pool. It's just Monty, because people forgot about him. But, like, he's ready to go, and so, I mean, you know, maybe not as much to say on this, and we will get to another name in just a second that could be moved. But, I mean, this one, you know what's funny, Jesse? I also think of the Oilers for a guy like Montego. I mean, Oilers, Rangers, we talked about the Rangers before. I think there will be suitors for him. But what I also will say is I'm a bit surprised that no one has stepped up and given us off. Yeah, it's a little bit surprising, but you have to feel like something needs to be done very soon. Again, Carey Price was asked about the goalie situation recently. He said, yeah, Montreal, they have two very good goalies in Dobesh. And Fowler, and again, Montembeau's name, and again, not mentioned. This wasn't on purpose by Carey Price, but it's just showing really the mentality of a lot of Habs fans, where it's just, we know we have two good goalies, and it's almost Montembeau is a little bit of an afterthought. To be fair, it's almost rightfully so, given how the team is played, that we'd want to be really concentrating on the players contributing to that at present. And the fact that, again, him going down to Laval in the conditioning stint, it again extends that runway slightly, again, only to a point. You cannot demote Jacob Fowler at this point in time. There would be a riot in Montreal if that was the case. We need to definitely keep him up. Jakub Bilbec is showing that he's deserving. Something is going to need to be done here very soon. We know that the team is still playing well despite it, right? Like different injuries and missing guys, you know, 12-game point streak. It's rivaling. It's the best stretch since the 92-93 season. The guys are still finding a way to be able to make it happen right now. But it's because we're really prioritizing. We're putting our best players in the best positions to succeed. Exactly that. And I think we will continue to do that. And that's why, yeah, like you said, Fowler, there's no way you're setting them down. People talking about him constantly as they should. And I like this comment here from Joe saying, it's too early to start calling him Sir Jacob, similar to what being known as Sir Patrick. Hey, you know, it's not ridiculous. I like that. What about you guys? Do you guys have any thoughts for Jacob Fowler? I know the Gator, there's a lot of different things that people have thought about, but I love this, right? There's so much love for Fowler, people would be upset. But a quick note before we end this off. We talk about Kodak, we talk about Monty, those are the obvious ones. There's been a little bit of noise about Oliver Kapanen, and I know there have been different outlets talking about this, I believe Marco D'Amico talked about it briefly as well. It makes a lot of sense. Kapanen has not had a fantastic year so far. I thought he's been playing some decent hockey. It's not like he's out there, a massive negative every night. But the points aren't there when Demi's not there. And that was the case last year, it's the case this year. I don't really know what it is. He's getting good chances. Like he's, he's getting slot shots. I don't, I don't know what's going on. His time on ice is low. He doesn't really hit, not really getting the sis. He's not really giving the puck over that much, a solid plus minus. I mean, you know, it is what it is. His contract is small, but there have been talks on maybe selling high here, right? The thing is like, When you put him next to very skilled players, he really thrives. We saw it last year. And in the moments where he hasn't been next to a skilled player, he has struggled a little bit. The question is, is Montreal the home for Kapanen to play next to really skilled players for the foreseeable future? His spot is getting harder and harder to come by, like up the lineup. A guy like Bolduc is finishing when Kapanen is not, right? These high-danger chances. A guy like... I don't know, like Michael Hage is going to come in, take that center spot, you know, and even Jake Evans is out producing him. So I don't know, is this just some noise? Jesse, do you think there's a real world where the Habs are probably looking to maybe move off of Kaepernick if he could be a key piece in some kind of top six deal? There's a real world. Other teams are definitely going to want to look for value back and looking at a guy in Oliver Kaepernick who scored 22 goals in his first season in the NHL is definitely going to perk up the ears of a lot of GMs in the NHL. And for me, I'm going to be very hesitant before trading Oliver Kaepernick. Has the season been a little bit of a slower start? Yes, absolutely. But what I saw from following his production in the SHL before coming over here, this is a guy that produced... extremely well we're seeing the way that he was scoring i'm saying he's going to score goals the same way in the nhl and what did he do that next year that's exactly what he did so for me i see a player that can produce he's maybe being a little bit snake bit i see him bouncing back i think that he's underrated That being said, looking at a deep team, a Montreal Canadiens team that just has so many prospects, other players coming in, that's what's making this conversation all the more interesting. It's like, he's good, but the situation in Montreal is dynamic. We have other players coming in, and how does he stack up against them? My one question for you, Josh, for the comment, let me know, talk to me from the heart. Do you see an Oliver Kapanen fitting in to a playoff roster? For the Montreal, that's my only question. Again, it's like we're building towards the playoffs. That's all that matters at this point here. And again, it's not going to be the most important for me, for Oliver Kaepernick, I see a very good player. The only chance I see him being moved is again, this is a team that's ahead of schedule. Maybe we were still developing. You keep Oliver Kaepernick around. If you look for a team that's ready to compete and you want to maximize every spot, I see potentially wanting to get a little bit of more physicality from a player. Playing in the position that he would in the playoff. That's the only question. Can he play that type of playoff style game? He's still a very much a young type of player. The Habs being ahead of schedule, that's where we need to start asking these tough questions. Not if Oliver Kapanen is a good player, is if he's going to be ready for us when we're ready to be in some tough trenches of a playoff battle. So I think that's going to be the one question that Kent Hughes is going to have to answer very shortly. Yeah, like... There's a reason he was scratched last year, right? It wasn't just fatigue. Like, I know that that's what they said, you know, the fatigue was barely setting in. But, you know, there's a reason. And, like, I also don't think it's crazy to say that Owen Beck has played better than Tappan in this year. And I think they were fighting for a similar role. Now, a small sample, Beck does not have a 20-goal season. And, like, I can't just throw that 20-goal season away. That's not a fluke, right? Like, you know, that is important. But like, I would rather Jake Evans and Phil Deneau defensively than Oliver Kapanen. And if he's going to play wing, I'd rather a guy like, again, Zachary Bolduc and Alex Newhook, who are going to be fast and physical and can still finish plays in tight while Kapanen has not really been able to do that this year. It's like, there are guys that I think you're right, that would be better suited for playoff style hockey. Not to mention a guy like Michael Hage, whose skill ceiling is, to me, a good bit higher than Kapanen. So leave your thoughts down below. I tend to completely agree. But that's not to say that there aren't teams that could absolutely use him. I think just like Kirby Dock, just like Samuel Montembeau, just like Jadon Struble, there are other teams that can use these players in a better spot than Montreal can afford to simply because of our depth and our young prospects coming up. But leave your thoughts down below on all this stuff because we could go on for hours about it, but that'll have to do it for this episode. Thank you, though, for tuning in every single day. And hey, maybe we've hit 29,000 by the time you made it to the end of this video, but if we haven't and you want to be the 29,000th, we're one away. Thank you so much for supporting us every single day. I'm Josh Goss, my co-host, Jason Pockett. We'll catch you all in the next one.