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Montreal Canadiens Linked to Blake Coleman Trade Talks
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- Montreal Canadiens Linked to Blake Coleman Trade Talks
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The NHL's rumour mill is picking up steam, with the Montreal Canadiens linked to Calgary Flames forward Blake Coleman .
TSN reporter Pierre LeBrun suggested the Habs have shown interest in the 34-year-old forward in his latest trade segment .
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Blake Cole man Trade Rumour
"Let me just start by saying I think the Habs are in no hurry to make their next move," he said. "They just acquired Phil Danault before the Holidays. Yes, they're in a great place right now, playing great, but the Eastern Conference standings, as we know, are absolutely jammed."
LeBrun would go on to propose the team is in no hurry to make a deal, and that they're likely to re-evaluate their situation as the 2026 Olympic break looms. The 2026 Winter Olympics are set to take place between February 6 and February 26, with an NHL trade freeze taking effect on February 4.
"My understanding is that Blake Coleman is high on their list," explained LeBrun. "Now, there are other players on their list, every playoff contender draws up a list at this time of the year. But Blake Coleman is a player of interest. He's a guy who brings some elements that the Habs are not as high on. His physicality, his versatility, he's a two-time Stanley Cup champion. He is of interest to the Montreal Canadiens."
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Blake Coleman Potential Value
The first thing we need to establish is that we're currently dealing with a seller's market in the NHL. Every team willing to sell players has received a laundry-list of inquiries, which will inevitably cause the cost of acquisition in any potential trade to rise.
As for Coleman, there's no doubt he would bring a healthy dose of experience to the mix for the Habs, which could be a boon for the youngest team in the NHL.
However, Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes usually avoids trading or signing players on the wrong side of 30, with the Phillip Danault trade serving as the lone exception in the last two seasons.
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Coleman has scored 13 goals and eight assists in 43 games, putting him on pace for a prorated season of 25 goals and 15 assists. On the surface, that may seem like a strong selling point, but it must be noted that Coleman is enjoying an inflated shooting percentage of 11.5% at 5v5, the best efficiency he's enjoyed since joining the league in 2016. With that in mind, it's unlikely he can maintain this shooting percentage going forward, a significant red flag when discussing an older player.
As for his underlying numbers, they're quite strong on a struggling Flames team, which may be part of the reason the Canadiens have shown interest in the 5'11" forward. Of course, the Canadiens are known to inquire about every player available on the market, therefore this may simply be a case of Hughes and Jeff Gorton performing due diligence.
Coleman is in year five of a six-year-contract that carries a $4.9 million annual average value (AAV), and seeing as the Habs have already entered long-term injured reserve territory (LTIR), they would likely have to move an asset in the form of an aging veteran to liberate the necessary cap space.
He can play down the middle of the ice, but he's currently serving as Calgary's second-line left wing.
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Montreal Canadiens Rumour Brass Tacks
In a vacuum, Coleman could serve as a high-end, albeit temporary solution on the first line, in a bid to shore up Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield 's play down the stretch.
Yet, it's also fair to say that Alex Texier has done a great job in that exact role, while playing on a much more reasonable contract ($1 million AAV), mitigating Coleman's value to the Montreal Canadiens to a certain extent.
The other risk in play is that Coleman's shooting percentage collapses, which would render him a relatively expensive bottom-six player.
All things considered, this seems like the type of Canadiens rumour that would make sense in a buyer's market.
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The Canadiens are unlikely to want to spend quality assets on an aging player with an inflated shooting percentage, even if the Eastern Conference playoff race is tightly-contested.
Texier is playing well on the first line, and both Juraj Slafkovsky and Ivan Demidov have done a great job improving their underlying numbers on the second line .
Simply put, there's no pressing need to add a forward such as Coleman to the lineup at this point in the season.
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