16 scouts in one arena on Tuesday night!

Trade rumours are usually more on the quiet side this early in the season, however the 2018-19 calendar did not start on the same note as a usual NHL campaign. The Toronto Maple Leafs are still stuck in a contract dispute with free agent forward William Nylander and it seems like a lot of moves are delayed as teams are looking to see what will happen with the impasse. 

In the meantime, that does not mean teams are not doing anything when it comes to exploring the trade market. On Tuesday night, with 11 games across the board in the NHL, there was tons of action across the league, however, most of it was happening in one place: Montreal. 

Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette revealed before the start of the Montreal Canadiens and Dallas Stars game that 16 NHL scouts were in the building for the occasion. 

While two were from the Stars themselves, in town for the contest of course, it was still quite the crowd in the scouting offices of the Bell Centre. There were also two scouts from the Washington Capitals and the Ottawa Senators. 

Other teams with a representative watching the game between the Habs and the Stars were the Chicago Blackhawks, New Jersey Devils, Anaheim Ducks, St. Louis Blues, Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres, New York Rangers, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers. 

The Canadiens have been impressive since the start of the season, and everyone around the league knows they are still looking for a top centreman. However for now, the Habs have managed to do quiet well, even without captain Shea Weber at the blue line. 

The Stars could be gathering interest as well. However, so far, the Canadiens’ off-season fixes are looking good, and teams might be curious on what is happening in Montreal… 

The former Habs forward, Alex Radulov, was back in the lineup for the contest and got the best of his former club as the Stars topped the Canadiens 4-1 last night. 

However, when the local media attempted to speak with Radulov after the game, he once again boycotted the media - as he did after practice that same morning. This is what Cowan revealed after the game: 

A Stars media-relations person said Radulov was unavailable because he was undergoing post-game treatment. When J.F. Chaumont of the Journal de Montréal spotted Radulov in the treatment room beside the Stars locker room he asked the Russian if he could come out to talk.

“Talk to Bergy,” Radulov told Chaumont.