After falling short in playoffs, rival Senators and Habs enter high‑stakes off‑season

Mathew Barzal of the New York Islanders celebrates his second period goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins earlier this season. Getty Images

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The arms race in the Eastern Conference is about to heat up.

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The calendar turned to June on Monday and with the Stanley Cup final set to get underway on Tuesday night at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, the balance of power has shifted.

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The Carolina Hurricanes finally got over the hump to advance to the final against the Vegas Golden Knights by knocking off the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference final, which ended with a 6-1 victory in Game 5 on Friday night.

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The trip by the Hurricanes to the final leaves the likes of the Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs and Habs licking their wounds as they prepare to do business in what’s a pivotal month on the National Hockey League’s off-season calendar.

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While fans of the Senators and Habs are battling on social media to try to decide which team put up more of a fight against the Canes, the bottom line is that both teams lost and have to get better because Carolina won’t be going away anytime soon.

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“We know we still have work to do,” Montreal GM Kent Hughes told reporters on the club’s breakup day in Brossard on Monday.

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Did a blockbuster fall through for the Habs?

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Hughes told reporters at the NHL trade deadline in March that he had a “significant” deal fall through because the Habs weren’t able to get it across the finish line at 3 p.m. ET.

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He said on Monday that it doesn’t mean the trade is completely dead.

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“It depends on the other team,” Hughes said. “That doesn’t stop us from making the appeal and revisiting it.”

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There was a lot of speculation around the March 7 deadline that the Habs were trying to acquire Matthew Knies from the Toronto Maple Leafs, but it’s not believed that’s the deal which fell through.

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The talk in league circles is that Hughes and Jeff Gorton, the Habs’ vice-president of hockey operations, may have been in talks with the New York Rangers for a trade that would have included centre Vincent Trocheck in return.

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He would be the perfect fit for the second-line centre that the Habs need and has a cap hit of $5.625 million US through the 2028-29 campaign.

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We don’t know for certain if Trocheck was the centre of the deal that fell through, but it makes some sense on the surface.

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“I’m going to call all 31 teams and look into a lot of things. As I discussed earlier, what will be available in June isn’t necessarily the same as what was available in March. It will be up to me to determine that,” Hughes said.

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You have to wonder if the Habs do revisit the deal they were working on — if it was in fact with the Rangers — if Montreal would try to expand the trade to include another piece from New York.

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Forward Alexis Lafreniere, 24, is often linked to the Habs but has a big ticket at $7.45 million through 2031-32. Why not swing for the fences? Go big or go home and the Habs, like the Senators, have gone home early this spring.