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It was a trade that was once regarded as one of the worst in recent years, but now the Montreal Canadiens are on their way to the Eastern Conference finals and it's all thanks to their savior, Alex Newhook. Who had that going in the playoffs? But suddenly, not once, but twice he has saved the Montreal Canadiens season. He's third in playoff goals with seven. He's got the game winner in both game sevens so far. He's got the same amount of points as Cole Caufield and Slafkovsky. And by the way, he's the first Hab ever to score a game-winning goal in OT in a game seven on the road, which is crazy considering how long they've been around.
How did just a couple years? How did like Maurice Richard, you know, Bernie Geoffrion, like someone one of these old guys do something like that? the most mind-blowing stat to me. Whatever you way you want to slice it, like Alex Newhook has been incredible and it's got a lot of people talking about that trade that they made all those years ago. Some people were saying for a few years afterwards it was one of Kent Hughes's worst moves ever and now he's doing this, so we'll start with you, Kyle. Montreal's tried to do this a few times.
We know that they did it with a guy like Kirby Dach, for example. They brought in Patrik Laine. Didn't really see much from him. Why do you think it's working with Newhook right now? It's fascinating timing for Newhook, right? Like you look at his trajectory over his Habs career and it's like there's been some flashes, like that first season it was pretty good on a per game rate, but then that second season just completely cratered and like he had less points in way more games. And then this season he gets injured again, has an ankle injury, kind of comes back later in the season and feels like he's really hitting his stride again right now. Like the hallmark of his game is in his entire
career, even as a prospect going back to his Avalanche days, is his speed and his ability to play down the middle originally was built through a lot of that speed. Now he shifted to the wing and all of a sudden it feels like that speed combined with like Jake Evans' defensive ability and Ivan Demidov on the other wing is all meshed together in these playoffs to create a really intriguing run here. And it's very cool to see for somebody like Alex Newhook. Like, you look at the Habs playoff run this year and the top line's been outscored like eight to one at five on five or something like that. And if you said that going into the playoffs, you're like, "Okay, Habs are probably
done in the first round." And here they are going into the conference finals right now against the Carolina Hurricanes. It's really impressive stuff and a lot of it is because of some of these bets that like Kent Hughes has made. And you go throughout the history and a couple months ago we were talking about how great this Habs rebuild is because of the bets that they've made and they've been willing to make bets. And some of them haven't paid off and it's interesting the ones that didn't really pay off are the ones that were like [snorts] their decisions to try and accelerate the rebuild almost. Like you mentioned like Kirby Dach and Patrik Laine, some of these younger guys who
didn't quite figure it out as much in Montreal as you expected. A bunch of guys that you maybe hoped would be that second line center that haven't been. But all of a sudden Newhook with that speed and kind of him finding his game right now, he's not the second line center right now, but he's playing on the second line and he's doing great guys as it is right now. So it's really impressive to see. Like you mentioned like the goal totals. Like he leads the playoffs in five on five goals crazy with six, which is nuts. He just had six goals alone in the Sabres series. Like without that production, the Canadians are not still dancing, which is very cool to see for somebody like Newhook to step up in that
secondary role when going into the playoffs he's like what? Like the ninth player or something like that on the Habs that you're talking about? Yeah. I think that's the part where like we you know, when we're forecasting how the Habs are going to look this post season and we're talking about all the big names and there's there's quite literally like 10 11 guys you get to. Alex Newhook was an afterthought um going into the playoffs. It was just like, "Yeah, he's going to play his role." And the fact that he has like the mark of him especially with how much he's done this even strength that he's got the same amount of points
as Caufield and Slafkovsky, like basically the two of the top three forwards on this team. That's the thing that's unprecedented to me. Looking back at the trade really quick because that's that's all again the big talking point. It was Newhook to Montreal for a 31st overall pick, a 37th overall pick, and defenseman Gianni Fairbrother, who I know Shoutout Gianni Fairbrother. His name Like that's a hefty price to pay for a young NHL player. And at the time, again, only a handful of years removed from being a first-round pick, young bottom-six guy with speed, you hope develops into that second-line role.
who's a bit of a tweener, right? Like is he a center or a wing? Is he more of a checker with his speed? Or is he more of like a playmaker? Or now he's just the best shooter of all time, apparently. Sniper. And he was like there was definitely some flashes, but there were some signs, too. It's not easy for a guy in an Avalanche system like the one that they have, as well, to really find a spot. But now, I mean, there's four teams left. One of them's the Avalanche, yes, but one of them is the Canadiens. So he's having success on a successful team. Looking at that trade, though, Josh, in hindsight, who won? Obviously, now this is actually a conversation that
we can sit here and have with how well he's playing. Was it Colorado? Was it Montreal? And do you think the Avs would want to redo on that trade? Could they use an Alex Newhook on their team right now? So I would give the edge to Montreal, but I don't think it's as sizable as we might think right now, cuz I don't think this is like the beginning of some stardom for Newhook. I think it's more of a thing of a decent player getting really hot at the right time. And yes, if they go on to win the cup or something, he'll be remembered as a legend in Montreal forever. But if they just get swept by the Hurricanes, then it's like, "Ah, this is kind of all for naught." And then if he goes back to being, you know, like a 15-20 goal,
30-40 point guy, it's like, "Okay." 20 goals, hasn't hit 40 points yet, which is the crazy thing to say for this run. And I mean, so this trade, so Colorado takes the second-round pick, they trade it straight up for Ross Colton, and Pretty much immediately. Yeah, since that trade, Colton has 42 goals, Newhook has 43. I think Newhook has like five more points, but he's played a few less games. So like the production has been very similar. Colton's a bit older, makes a bit more money, but Colorado gets to that 31st overall pick. Mikhail Goulyavlev, he's still I might be butchering that name, but [snorts] Close enough. he's still 21 years old, hasn't done a lot in the KHL, but it's too early to completely write him off, I'd
say. So, I'd give Montreal the edge, but I think this could easily flip if maybe Goulyavlev becomes a player, who knows. Yeah, what do you think, Kyle? What do Yeah, I think a lot of this, as Josh mentioned, comes down to like what does Newhook become? Like a lot of his NHL tenure has been all about that potential. Like he's [snorts] been this like sub-15 goal, sub-40 point guy, but on a per game basis, some seasons he's been better than that, even this season. This year he would have scored like 20, 25 goals if he was healthy all year.
Exactly. And so, if he can stay healthy, and if he can build on this in terms of his confidence, like I think that really be suddenly becomes like an intriguing player, where would Colorado love to have a player like that? Obviously, but I think when you look at the process over it over the years, having that first-round pick, flipping that second for Ross Colton, and making that trade, I think has made like over the years, like would you rather have Ross Colton or Alex Newhook most of the last handful of seasons? Most seasons you're probably picking Ross Colton for Colton had a bad year, but like last year he was playing with MacKinnon for a while. He was really filling the net before he got for the role that the Avalanche were
looking for, right? Cuz not necessarily the same player types. Um but going forward here, like Alex Newhook's still only 25 years old. Feels like he's been around for forever cuz he jumped into the NHL fairly quickly after being in college, after being drafted. Um but this is a guy who's still only 25 years old. Like this is a guy who if he can build on the confidence through this, like this is a legit run that he's going on right now. And so, um I'm really excited to see what he can do the rest of these playoffs, and then specifically into next season, if he can stay healthy, if he can be a guy that can legit give you 16, 17 minutes a night on a second line consistently, I
think he's a really intriguing player that really kind of transforms what the Habs are as well, because like so much of the conversation with the Habs is like top line's great, defense is great. Like you have so many great pieces. Second line center is such a big hole. You have some other kind of secondary roles that are um a bit of a question mark. And if Newhook becomes like a legit guy instead of being a guy that you're like, "Man, if only we had like that pick prospect, whatever, a few years ago." Um I there's certainly not nearly as much regret and I'd say probably no regret in terms of that trade right now, which if you said it like 2 months ago, not
even like what? Like 6 weeks ago. Yeah. Probably still a lot of regret about that trade. Well, I think it's also fair to say though that Newhook wouldn't be getting this opportunity in Colorado just given how deep this team is. Like this is a team that has a guy who scored 20 goals in the regular season, Parker Kelly, on the fourth line. Like they are so deep like 1 to 12 in their forward group. So, Newhook might not be flourishing if he wasn't on a team that has those middle six openings like Montreal does. And if we're being honest, if Newhook is had been what he was last few years in Colorado still, he would have been traded for less at some point. 100% His value has been deteriorating up until
this post season. Yeah, I truly I do think it's it's about as win-win as it gets considering what Colorado was able to do with that second pick, considering they don't really have space for him anyways. Like they flipped him at the right time. It took a couple years for this to come back in Montreal's favor um with how good he's playing now, but I do think like and I'm just so envious obviously sitting here as a Leafs guy, as any fan really. Like aside from maybe an Avalanche fan, we sit here and talk about yeah, Montreal needs to fill that second line center. We've talked about that all year. Now they've got a guy at least for now doing that very well. But the fact that like when we're projecting this team down the road and like it feels so obvious that a cup will
probably be coming their way or at least a good kick at the can. We're not talking about an Alex Newhook. We're talking about the Suzukis. We're talking about the Caufields. We're talking about there's so many guys that we've sat here and talked about. And now for Habs fans to have all of those guys and a 25-year-old Alex Newhook doing what he's doing right now, it's it's just an embarrassment of riches. Like there's no other way to put it. When you can have all of those pieces and go on this run and then a guy comes out of the woodwork and pots seven goals through the first two rounds, it's it's unprecedented. And I guess kudos to Kent Hughes and Montreal for seeing this. Maybe they weren't wrong, they
were just early. That's the There we go. That's the spin. That's were just early and they were But to that point, it's this is a trade that's fun to look back at because it's good process on both teams. Yes. The Avalanche cashing in on a prospect that probably wasn't going to flourish in their system. Montreal making a bet on a young player that could flourish in their system. They've stuck with him and now they're at the they're receiving the dividends of that bet. Yeah. Newhook and the Habs are absolutely on fire. Real quick, before we get out of here, do you think they have what it takes to knock off the Canes? They haven't lost yet.
They've got some magic, but I'm going to say no. I think it stops here. I think Carolina is just too much of a well-oiled machine to lose to the Habs. Kyle? It's the rest versus rust. If the Habs can jump on them quickly here, I like the Habs in this series. Okay, yeah. Well, it's going to be quite the series. First real test for the Hurricanes, so I'm excited to see how they fare. Let us know in the comments who you think won the trade and who you think wins this series between the Habs and Hurricanes. We'll catch you guys in the next one.
