A former player reveals the three Canadiens players he would trade for Connor McDavid, including Jakub Dobes
Nick Suzuki is the kind of player Martin St-Louis cannot just toss into a Connor McDavid fantasy.
That's why Mathieu Chouinard's proposal hit such a nerve in Montreal.
The second Suzuki, Michael Hage and Jakub Dobes were named together, this stopped being a radio bit and became a real fan fight.
On talent alone, the debate is easy. Connor McDavid changes everything the moment he hops over the boards.
He drives pace, backs defenders off the blue line and tilts the ice almost by himself.
But team building is where this gets messy. Suzuki isn't just another top-six center.
He's the captain, the matchup driver and one of the players setting the tone every night in that locker room.
Hage matters because he represents the next wave. Dobes matters because moving a young goaltender out of the mix can shake up the whole crease plan.
-
That's the price point that makes this more than a video-game proposal. Montreal would not be trading spare parts. It would be moving leadership, upside and a piece tied directly to the club's future.
The name is McDavid, but the cost is the story
Kent Hughes would still have to listen if Edmonton ever made that call.
Any general manager in hockey picks up for Connor McDavid, and Montreal's front office is no different.
But listening and saying yes are two different things. A one-player blockbuster looks sexy from the outside, yet the damage can show up fast in center depth, prospect depth and roster balance.
That part gets overlooked when the biggest name in the sport is involved. Fans picture the power play, the rush chances and the jersey sales. Coaches see matchups, line combinations and the holes left behind.
Martin St-Louis also knows what Suzuki means to his bench.
He handles hard minutes, carries emotional weight and gives structure to the group when games start to wobble.
So would Hughes do it? In a vacuum, maybe you think hard. In the real world, where a roster has to survive 82 games and grow together, it feels a lot tougher than it sounds.
That's what makes Chouinard's debate so good. Everybody wants McDavid. Not everybody wants to live with what Montreal would have to give up to get him.
|
YESTERDAY
MAY 14, 2026
| ||||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Nick Suzuki | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Juraj Slafkovsky | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Pavel Dorofeyev | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Ivan Demidov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Mitch Marner | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Shea Theodore | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Phillip Danault | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Josh Anderson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Cole Caufield | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Josh Doan | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jake Evans | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mikael Granlund | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Konsta Helenius | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alexandre Texier | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||