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Montreal Canadiens GM Kent Hughes.

The Montreal Canadiens went through one of the quickest rebuilds in recent NHL history following their 2021 Stanley Cup Finals appearance, and in 2025/26, they flashed Stanley Cup winning potential for the future, reaching the Eastern Conference semifinals.

However, this remains one of the youngest teams in the NHL, and while that youth and exuberance is certainly helpful, at some point, the team are going to need to land a veteran piece or two to help lead them. That’s been rumored for a long time, with the team looking for an experienced 2C and potential depth forward with post-season experience, and heading into this off-season, those needs certainly haven’t changed.

Montreal Linked to Philadelphia’s Rasmus Ristolainen

GettyRasmus Ristolainen of the Philadelphia Flyers.

One position the Canadiens would like to upgrade is the blue line, and while they have stars such as Lane Hutson and Noah Dobson, they’d love to not only get more experience there, but get much more physical. There’s plenty of defenseman that could be available via trade, and it’s likely the Canadiens front office will look into many of them, but on Wednesday, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman got specific and connected the team to Flyers veteran Rasmus Ristolainen, along with two other teams.

“I’ve heard that teams have talked to Philly about him (Ristolainen); I think Philly’s got a bunch of different balls in the air,” Friedman said.”Ottawa had a lot of interest in Ristolainen. Another team I’ve wondered about for him is Montreal.”

Would Rasmus Ristolainen be a Good fit in Montreal?

On the right side of the Canadiens defense currently is the trio of Dobson, Hutson and Alexandre Carrier, so theoretically, the team are set there, but given Ristolainen’s presence at 6-foot-4, he would bring something that neither Dobson or Hutson do. While he’s not the most physical defenseman, the pure length and strength that he brings on the right side would make him a very good fit, especially given the offense that the other two can bring, giving the team very solid balance on the right side.

Ristolainen is capable of bringing some offense as well, as he posted 40+ points in four straight seasons for the Buffalo Sabres, but since 2020/21, he’s struggled to keep up with that level of production. On top of that is his inability to stay healthy in the past few seasons, as the 31-year-old has played in just 138 games over the past three seasons, but given all of this, he shouldn’t be too expensive an acquisition for a team with immense draft and prospect capital.

On paper, this would be a solid fit for a Montreal team looking to get more physical, especially for the post-season, but with Ristolainen being owed $5.1 million for the upcoming season, that may present GM Kent Hughes with a problem. Whether or not the Flyers would be open to retaining on Ristolainen, only time will tell, but if the Canadiens want a true upgrade that would likely come at a cheaper cost, he would be a solid third-pairing option for the team.