Kent Hughes places a young Canadiens forward on the market as a center hunt intensifies

The Montreal Canadiens and the Anaheim Ducks are still talking about Mason McTavish, but as of Monday night, Pat Verbeek hasn't budged on his asking price and Kent Hughes isn't close to happy about it.

The rumor, circulating heavily on social media Sunday and Monday, has the Flyers and Senators also in the mix.

That matters. Because when four teams are chasing the same player, the price doesn't drop.

McTavish is 23, earns $7 million, and put up 41 points in 75 regular-season games this year. He added 6 points in 10 playoff games before Anaheim's run ended.

That's not a bad résumé. But it's not a slam-dunk for $7 million either, and that's exactly the tension Montreal is sitting in right now.

He posted just 3 assists in his last 5 games of the regular season, with no goals. A -15 on the year is a real number too.

Kirby Dach's future in Montreal suddenly becomes a very live question

And now the Dach piece. The same report says Montreal is listening on Kirby Dach, with at least 3 teams involved and offers expected.

That makes sense. Dach played just 37 regular-season games, managed 15 points, and went pointless over his last 5 games with a -4 rating. His last 10 games produced exactly 1 point.

At $3.3625 million on his deal, he's not expensive. But the Canadiens finished 48-24-10 this season and went deep in the playoffs. The roster bar has moved.

Think of it like a contractor finishing a renovation - the cheap supplies that worked in year one of the rebuild don't automatically get reused just because they were there first.

Then there's the Jason Robertson name being dropped in the same breath as Montreal. Dallas's Robertson had 96 points in 82 games this season, and scored 9 goals in his last 10 regular-season games. He's not a rumor. He's a name.

Robertson is 26, carries a $7.75 million cap hit, and has 5 goals in 6 playoff games this year. That's the kind of production that makes a front office stop everything and pay attention.

GM Jim Nill doesn't move Robertson easily. But "complicated" situations in the NHL often resolve faster than anyone expects once the draft is in the rearview.