Did Kent Hughes Just Get Another Chance With Montembeault?

There is something funny about the way NHL trades work. A player can be sitting there all summer, available, and nobody wants him. Then somebody gets hurt. Suddenly, the phone rings. Samuel Montembeault might be one of those players.

For much of the summer, it seemed fairly obvious that the Montreal Canadiens were trying to figure out what to do with their former starting goalie. He had a difficult season, Montreal has other goaltenders coming through the organization, and there appeared to be a reasonable argument that it was simply time to move on.

Apparently, Kent Hughes looked at his options. And apparently, none of them made enough sense. That might turn out to be more important than anything Hughes actually did this summer.

Sometimes the Best Trade Is the One You Don't Make.

There is a tendency to assume that when a general manager wants to move a player, he should simply get the best return available and move on. But why? If the return doesn't make sense, there is nothing wrong with waiting.

Montembeault isn't suddenly going to become a different goalie just because Montreal keeps him for another month. His value might not have been particularly high in August, but NHL teams have a funny habit of developing needs in September and October.

Frederik Andersen's injury in Edmonton is a perfect example. The Oilers don't necessarily need to panic. Andersen could recover quickly. But they have already taken a considerable gamble by bringing in a goalie with a recent history of injuries. Now, before training camp has even started, there is another question hanging over their crease.

And suddenly, a goalie like Montembeault looks a little different. Not necessarily great. Not necessarily the solution. But available. Sometimes that is enough to change the conversation.

Injuries Change the Value of Players.

The interesting thing about Montembeault is that his value doesn't necessarily have to change because of anything he does. The market changes around him. A goalie who didn't have much market value in July could become considerably more valuable if the Oilers decide they don't like their options in September. That's the strange economics of professional sports. Supply and demand can change very quickly when a player gets hurt.

And that's where patience can become a general manager's most valuable skill. Hughes could have traded Montembeault for something he didn't particularly like just to solve a roster problem. Instead, he kept him.

Now the Oilers have a problem. Maybe Montembeault is the answer. Maybe he isn't. But Kent Hughes is in a better position to find out.

The Canadiens Don't Have to Solve Edmonton's Problem.

That's the part Montreal has to remember. Edmonton's goaltending situation is not Montreal's emergency. If the Oilers call, Hughes doesn't need to simply move Montembeault because he wanted to trade him a few weeks ago. The situation has changed. If Edmonton's need has changed the market, then the Canadiens are allowed to reconsider what they want.

That is how good asset management works. You don't sell because you once decided to sell. You sell when the price makes sense.

And maybe that's the real opportunity here for Kent Hughes. It isn't necessarily that Samuel Montembeault is suddenly worth a fortune. It's that doing nothing all summer may have given Montreal another chance to find out what he's actually worth.