Rumor: Canadian rivals now facing off on trade market!

Fans can always rejoice themselves when an NHL team gets out of that slump, wins some games and makes everyone forget about the bad start and the mediocre players. The Montreal Canadiens are starting to achieve this, after winning three of their last four games after having gone 1-6-1 in their first eight contests.

However, NHL Insider Darren Dreger reminded Habs fans Tuesday morning on Montreal's TSN 690, that the Canadiens are still looking to bolster up their back end, and are looking to the market to find an answer. 

“Because they’re a team that should be built on speed and seem to be built on speed, especially up front, that puck movement and transition game is key to the Montreal Canadiens’ success," said Dreger as reported by Fanrag Sports. They don’t have a whole lot of players currently who are capable of executing that with any level of consistency. Now, we saw a bit more of it, but I think it was just simply because of the confidence of the Habs last night, the way things were going inside that game."

The Canadiens had a statement victory last night, winning 8-3 over the Ottawa Senators. 

Dreger believes GM Marc Bergevin should use the available cap space to lure a quality defenseman in Montreal. 

“So when you look at the advantage of cap space, again, that has to be a priority for Marc Bergevin, is trying to find somebody who can fit that model. He looked in the offseason and wasn’t able to do it. Obviously we spent a lot of time talking about whether it was a good idea or not to allow Andrei Markov to disappear, but it’s developed into, I would say, a pretty significant area of concern. It wasn’t last night, but over the course of this regular season it appears to be a weakness of the Montreal Canadiens.

“So I would say that it’s still a pretty high priority to acquire a player of that magnitude.”

Losing Markov now appears even more painful than it was first thought back in the summer. The Habs have been included in different trade chatter since the start of the season, as their need for a better blue line keeps being repeated. However, the Canadiens still need help up front as well, so we will have to see which need Bergevin addresses first. 

The Toronto Maple Leafs, Washington Capitals and New York Rangers are also said to be looking at the trade market as well for help on the back end, while the Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings and Detroit Red Wings have some available for a potential trade. 

The Leafs are reportedly looking at the market for a top defenseman, and have some serious bait to offer in return. They could be calling the same teams as Montreal and need to fight the tag price to get help first...