Will the Montreal Canadiens Look Internally or Externally for Their Right Wing Solution
Anthony Di Marco of the Daily Faceoff joined TSN Radio in Montreal and was asked about the options for the Montreal Canadiens on the first line at the right wing position. Di Marco stated that, depending on Alex Newhook‘s timeline, he could be a more valuable in-house trade acquisition than other right-wingers on the market.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Host: “I’m looking at David Pagnotta here of the fourth period, who’s reporting that the Habs seem to be fine. Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton, they seem to be fine with this current roster that they have, but the immediate want and void that they want to fill here is on the right side of that first line, next to Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. What do you think the approach is going to be there? Like, whoever’s available, who would be the best fit for the Habs in that role?
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Anthony Di Marco: “Like an outside addition type of thing?”
Host: “Sure. I mean, I don’t know what Dave is alluding to here, if it’s an external add or if it’s an internal fix that they have, but yeah, externally, I guess would be my question.”
Di Marco: “Like, I think, yeah, getting a true right winger, like, I would imagine, like, I’m not off the top of my head. I can’t remember the exact timeline of Alex Newhook, but I thought maybe he would be a fit there if he comes back, and he could kind of be like their in-house trade deadline acquisition type of thing.
You look around the NHL and maybe you go to a team like the New York Rangers, you try and pick the bones of a right winger there. Look, this is just someone that I know is available because of how close they follow them, but like a Bobby Brink in Philadelphia.
Was that really someone that like they think long term could be a first line staple? He is also another undersized forward like a Cole Caufield and so maybe that wouldn’t be a fit, but honestly, for me, that wouldn’t be something if I’m Kent Hughes I’m going to try to track down on the trade market.
I think you have a lot of pieces in-house to try to make that work, and it would also depend heavily on where things are at right now, Alex Newhook.”
Host: “I love your, your thought process there of Alex Newhook, and there is hope he’s been skating, that he would be back before the end of the season. And then you bring in a guy like you said, Bobby Brink, right? So then the Canadiens will look go, would we give up assets for a Bobby Brink? But if we think Alex Newhook’s better than Bobby Brink and he’s already with this group, why would we disrupt anything? That is the evaluation I think the Habs are having right now.”
Di Marco: “Well, that’s exactly just it, right? Like, again, it depends how high they want to swing. It depends on Alex Newhook’s timetable, and as well as, do you think he’d be a fit there? Now, I think as a left shot, maybe he would fit better than a Kirby Dach.
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Obviously, (Juraj) Slafkovsky is fitting in perfectly on the second line, a guy like Zach Buldoc or Alex Texier maybe doesn’t have the skill level to really make that fit long-term. But as far as I’m concerned here, I mean, I would look at Newhook first and foremost, and then look at outside options. But again, you have to find out first of all, before anything else, what his timetable is.”
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