The captain of the Montreal Canadiens, Nick Suzuki, just made a strong statement regarding the NHL trade market.

At a press conference earlier today during the annual golf tournament, and just hours before the start of the 2024 training camp, the captain had this to say:

 
“I don’t want us to be sellers at the trade deadline.”

– Nick Suzuki
 

Wow. That’s quite a message being sent to Kent Hughes, and I believe Suzuki is just verbalizing what the entire locker room is thinking.

Throughout the morning, the players mentioned that they want to play meaningful games next spring, they want to be in the NHL playoff race, and they want to qualify.

Things are looking promising!

A player like David Savard will be very pleased to hear such a statement from captain Nick Suzuki.

The Canadiens players don’t want Kent Hughes to be a seller at the trade deadline

In fact, that’s probably what Suzuki meant as well, but it will be up to the players to decide that (through their performance on the ice).

If the team is still in the thick of the playoff race when the trade deadline arrives, Hughes will obviously have no choice but not to be a seller.

Otherwise, he might be forced to make some tough decisions.

In any case, the stage is set, and the team definitely has higher expectations this season compared to previous years.

And you, what’s your prediction for the 2024-2025 season of the Montreal Canadiens?

The work seems to have started with the acquisition of former Columbus Blue Jackets and Winnipeg Jets player Patrik Laine, and it will continue over the next few months.

It will be really interesting to see if Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton will be more in “addition” mode or “selling” mode, especially knowing that they will have a big decision to make with players like Christian Dvorak and Justin Barron

Full press conference: