Monster sign and trade recently fell through and you have to wonder if another will be attempted!

We’ve seen how Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes can be creative in his current retooling in Montreal. On Thursday, we found out thanks to the 32 Thoughts podcast how he almost managed to pull a very inventive trade, one that involved former free agent defenseman John Klingberg.

Elliotte Friedman revealed how earlier this summer, the Canadiens and the Oilers had a deal in place in which Montreal would have signed Klingberg to a one-year contract as a free agent before trading him to Edmonton with 50 percent of his salary withheld in return for compensation. It would have been a first in NHL history for a team to sign an unrestricted free agent and then immediately trade him.

The compensation in question could have been forward Jesse Puljujarvi though Friedman could not confirm this detail.
What’s confirmed is that the deal never materialized as Klingberg instead agreed to a one-year contract worth $7 million with the Anaheim Ducks.

Then, the Habs turned to the Calgary Flames to acquire forward Sean Monahan in addition to a conditional first round pick in the transaction.

While the monster one of a kind trade did not take place in the end, the confirmed report of it almost happening got fans excited on how GM Hughes could find other ingenious ways to improve the Canadiens’ roster in the upcoming season.