Montreal Canadiens coach called Max Domi expendable as more moves expected
Anthony Scultore
|
The Montreal Canadiens are sick of losing. One of the NHL’s most storied and decorated franchises is going all out to get better. It started in a big way when they swapped RFA’s in a trade with Columbus.
Claude Julien called Max Domi expendable
Almost everyone expected the Montreal Canadiens to trade Max Domi. They wanted to get bigger and more physical on the wings, so they sent him to Columbus for Josh Anderson.
Why trade such a promising offensive young player? According to Canadiens head coach Claude Julien, Domi became expendable when he missed the opening of Return-to-Play camp.
“It’s not so much that it didn’t work out [with Domi in Montreal]. Sometimes this is what hockey’s all about — you end up with a situation where now Max became I guess a little bit expendable, because we had those guys (Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Phillip Danault) do so well, and at the same time, we’re able to get a big player that we really needed on the wing in Josh Anderson in exchange for him.”
Julien (NHL Trade Talk)
Hearing Julien now, you can understand why Max Domi was frustrated. “The playoff situation was tough and there wasn’t much communication there and I didn’t really know where I stood,” he said after being traded.
Are the Canadiens done?
Montreal didn’t stop there as they also added defenseman Joel Edmundson and another prize UFA in Tyler Toffoli to the roster. The question many are asking is if GM Marc Bergevin is done? The thought process is he’s not.
At this time, the Canadiens are almost scraping the cap ceiling and need to at least find room for a 13th forward. That means there could be more wheeling and dealing soon.
Will Bergevin make a trade to free up that space and then look for a cheap signing? Maybe bring back Ilya Kovalchuk on a one year deal cheap? Or will he make a play for someone like Mike Hoffman or Erik Haula? Either of those two would require moving some significant money.