Rasmus Ristolainen's name is back in Montreal Canadiens trade rumors, and this time there's real detail attached.
Insider Anthony Di Marco said this week on the Campbell vs Gallo podcast that Montreal spent last season's deadline hunting a big right shot defenseman.
Di Marco tied that search directly to Ristolainen, and mentioned Brandon Carlo as another name that surfaced in talks.
Anthony Di Marco: The defenseman that the Canadiens have been searching for, a big right shot guy, we heard them tied to Rasmus Ristolainen or maybe even a Brandon Carlo at the deadline.
Ristolainen posted 14 points and a plus-10 rating in 44 games with the Philadelphia Flyers this season, carrying a 5.1 million dollar cap hit.
He got better once the games mattered more, picking up 5 points in 10 playoff games for Philadelphia.
Montreal already had size and a right shot on the back end in Noah Dobson, who carries a 9.5 million dollar cap hit.
But Dobson managed one point in 13 playoff games and finished at minus-7 as Montreal was eliminated by Carolina in the third round. He's big, but he's not physical.
That kind of disappearing act is exactly why names like Ristolainen and Carlo kept coming up around Kent Hughes and his front office.
Noah Dobson playoff vanishing act explains the search
Lane Hutson led Montreal's defensemen with 78 points this season. But his game runs on speed and puck skill, not size, and that gap showed up against Carolina.
Ristolainen next to Hutson would've been like pairing a bodyguard with a magician. One handles the show. The other handles the crowd.
So why didn't either deal get done? Di Marco's report didn't say, and neither Ristolainen nor Carlo ever showed up on Montreal's roster.
For a team that just got out-muscled in a second-round exit, letting those conversations reportedly go nowhere still looks like a missed opportunity.
Martin St-Louis finished the season 48-24-10 for 106 points and third in the Atlantic Division, a group with real pieces but an obvious hole on the right side.
Carlo's name carried less weight in the report than Ristolainen's, but insiders flagged him as a real possibility at the deadline too.
-
Whether Hughes circles back to either player, or a different right shot defenseman entirely, is the question that follows Montreal into next season.
Should the Canadiens have pushed harder to land Rasmus Ristolainen at the deadline?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
New details emerge after Kelly Hrudey's sudden Sportsnet exit
