Kent Hughes unveils the plan with Casey DeSmith and it's genuinely intriguing

With today's announcement of Jeff Petry's trade, one of the two issues to be addressed with the Canadiens has just been resolved.

Now, the goaltender situation remains to be resolved, as the club currently has three NHL goalies on its roster with Samuel Montembeault, Jake Allen, and Casey DeSmith, plus Cayden Primeau who would have to go through waivers if he were sent to Laval.

Regarding the one who was acquired alongside Petry, while he was in a press conference to comment on today's trade, Kent Hughes revealed very interesting information about the team's plan with DeSmith.

The general manager asked him to be patient and that the plan wasn't to place him in the AHL. He asserts that he will look at options to trade him, adding the intriguing detail that he would also look to "change things up".


What does Kent Hughes mean by "change things up"? Does he want to look at options to take advantage of DeSmith's arrival to trade Allen? It's very likely, and it's the speculation that makes the most sense in connection with his statement.

Although Montembeault probably has the best market value, it seems pretty clear he won't be traded by Hughes, at least not this year.

Let's say there are open avenues for several possibilities with the Canadiens, and nothing is set in stone. However, as Hughes also mentioned to the media, the goalie market is currently slow. So, patience will be needed before seeing something happen.