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Canadiens Confirm They Were in on Multiple Big Trade Deadline Deals

Originally posted on NHL Trade Talk | Last updated Apr 9, 2026 12:37 PM ET

There were rumors at the trade deadline that the Montreal Canadiens were fishing around for a big trade, but it ultimately didn’t materialize. General manager Kent Hughes said after the deadline had passed that he was looking at something big and that he could revisit those trade talks this summer. Some speculated it was Matthew Knies out of Toronto, with other insiders suggesting there was a different deal being worked on and time simply ran out to get it done.

Hughes himself has now confirmed that he was working on a couple of deals.

Canadiens Were Working on Several Big Trades

While a guest on The Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro, Hughes continued to hint he had has hands on a big trade. In fact, he was talking about a couple of potential blockbusters. He explained:

“Let’s start with this. First of all, I said it for two reasons. One, I feel like we owe the media—and we, being the organization—a level of respect. We’ve tried to do that from our time here. I get it, everybody has a job to do. Not everybody is going to say what we want them to say; sometimes they’re going to be critical. We have to be able to respect that. They’ve got to do their jobs, and they have their own timelines and everything else.” He added, “So I was an hour, an hour and change late… I didn’t want them to think that I was at the bar having a beer and that their time wasn’t important to me.”

He then explained that he wanted to share with the fans and his players that he was trying to improve the team. “And two, I think to a certain degree, when we answer questions from the media, we’re communicating to our fan base. I wanted our fans to understand that we did not go into the trade deadline—and this whole season—thinking about just one year, when we’re going to win a Cup.”

The Canadiens Feel They’re Good Enough to Compete with the Right Pieces

“But it’s also a message to our players, right?,” Hughes said. “Unless I have a meeting with them—‘Hey, we looked at things to try to improve our team. You guys aren’t good enough, so we’re going to wait until we are before we make any move’—we just didn’t get it done. That’s ultimately on me. I’m the one having the conversations—I didn’t get it done.”

As for what he was trying to add to the roster: “We explored something that we thought would have been a good deal; it didn’t happen. Do we revisit it? We’re certainly not precluded from revisiting it. We’re going to have more information now on our team, because from the trade deadline until we’re eliminated from the playoffs, we’re continuing to learn about our group.”

“There was more than one trade—we were trying a couple of different things. Either we decided the price was too high, or we didn’t necessarily just go after players on expiring contracts. So when we go into the trade deadline—or any other conversation about our team—it’s about: can we get better today and get better in the future at the same time?”

This article first appeared on NHL Trade Talk and was syndicated with permission.

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