Canadiens Were Not The Only Team Interested In Denis Gurianov

The Montreal Canadiens were able to secure a deal for the speedy Denis Gurianov on Sunday, but they weren’t the only team in the mix.

General manager Kent Hughes was eventually able to secure the services of Denis Gurianov in exchange for veteran Evgenii Dadonov, as the Dallas Stars were looking to add some scoring punch to the lineup.

However, they weren’t the only ones kicking tires on Gurianov, who presented an interesting reclamation project to more than just the Canadiens.

In a recent segment of the 32 Thoughts podcast, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman mentioned that there were a few teams circling in on Gurianov after the Stars had made him available.

“I think Philadelphia was in on Gurianov and some others too, I have no doubt,” said Elliotte Friedman regarding the market for Gurianov before landing in Montreal.

Jeff Marek added that there was at least one other notable team in the mix, amongst others.

“I think Carolina may have been in there as well,” added Marek when discussing teams that were in the running for Gurianov.

In fact, there was no shortage of interested teams willing to take a flyer on Gurianov, but his $2.9M cap hit and impending qualifying offer may have made for a more complicated trade with other suitors.

Friedman mentioned that the Stars also held up trade talks with Gurianov over the last few months, as they were afraid of repeating the past and giving up on a player too soon.

“Dallas was a bit shy on this one, in the sense that they saw with (Valeri) Nichuskin. He goes somewhere else, and blossoms into a critical player on a Stanley Cup champion and I think they were always careful about that,” said Friedman regarding Dallas’ hesitancy to move on from Gurianov.

The Montreal Canadiens believe that they can unlock the potential that the Stars saw in Gurianov when they selected him 12th overall in the 2015 NHL Draft.

They’ve done a strong job in taking Kirby Dach and Johnathan Kovacevic along from Chicago and Winnipeg, and the Canadiens are banking that their new-look development team is going to be able to help Gurianov become the dangerous middle-six forward he was projected to be.

But clearly, they weren’t the only team that was ready to jump in and take a gamble on a player like Gurianov, who has an interesting toolbox.

It’s now up to head coach Martin St-Louis to go to work.