Canadiens officially trade a huge forward to conference rival: Kent Hughes is cooking

Luke Tuch is out, and Martin St-Louis now gets a different bet from the Canadiens after Montreal sent the winger to Columbus on June 25.

Tuch is a 'huge' 6-foot-3 forward.

Pierre LeBrun reported that Montreal dealt Tuch to the Blue Jackets for Hunter McKown, with both players still pending RFAs. That makes this a straight prospect-for-prospect swing, not a cap dump or contract clear-out.

And it stands out because the Canadiens are moving on from a player they once viewed as a project worth waiting on. Tuch brought size, a straight-line game, and a heavy forecheck, but the offensive push never arrived in a big way.

He played 68 games for Laval this season and finished with 9 goals and 14 points. For a winger with his frame and age, that's a number that leaves the door open for a change-of-scenery move.

Montreal clearly decided the fit had stalled. The Canadiens just came off a 48-24-10 season, and that kind of club is under pressure to turn depth slots into players who can move faster toward NHL minutes.

-

McKown gives them a different look down the middle. He put up 13 goals and 31 points in 68 games with Cleveland last season, and he already has 12 NHL games on his record with Columbus.

Why this move makes sense for Montreal

This is the kind of trade Kent Hughes has made before when a prospect line starts to flatten out. No headline splash, no futures attached, just a clean reset on an asset that hadn't broken through.

The position swap matters too. Wingers are easier to find than centers, and McKown gives Laval another option in the middle of the ice with more proven AHL offense than Tuch showed this year.

That doesn't mean Tuch has no value. He's still 6-foot-2 and 219 pounds, and there's room for Columbus to see whether a heavier usage role can pull more out of his game.

But from the Canadiens' side, this feels like an organization deciding patience has a limit. They have younger names pushing for ice, and roster decisions get sharper when the pipeline keeps moving.

The bigger takeaway is simple: Montreal did not treat Tuch like an untouchable piece. They treated him like a trade chip, and they cashed him in for a center with better recent production.

That's a clear sign of where the Canadiens are now. They're no longer just collecting prospects. They're starting to sort them, move them, and bet on the ones they think can help sooner.

The report landed here after the details broke: