According to information reported by The Athletic's excellent Arpon Basu, the Montreal Canadiens had their nose in the Ryan O'Reilly file, while Kent Hughes was interested in being part of the three-team deal. <q>Arpon Basu on TSN said the Canadiens were in the market for O'Reilly, they wanted to help facilitate the trade, as the Wild did, but couldn't, because with all the injuries, players who are injured count against the salary cap, as well as players who came in to replace them, they lost flexibility under the salary cap.</q> This is important information as it proves that the Habs GM is very active and is in on every opportunity to add to his organization. Obviously, for those who would not have understood, the Tricolore would have acted as a third party in the transaction, in order to use its payroll to get a draft pick. Remember that the Wild got a fourth round pick to keep 25% of O'Reilly's salary until the end of the season. However, given the Habs' dramatic situation with their never-ending injury list, management didn't have the leeway to move. That's why the Habs opted out of the deal. Not only does the injury situation hinder a possible trade for certain roster pieces like Sean Monahan and Joel Edmundson, but it also prevents certain deal opportunities like the O'Reilly trade to Toronto. <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/NHL_Watcher/status/1628209413377908737?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1628209413377908737%7Ctwgr%5Eae38d2eb35006186568000a16339f649bc2ef0ac%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.danslescoulisses.com%2Fdossier-ryan-oreilly-le-canadien-etait-dans-le-coup%2F'> </a></blockquote></div> Credit: <a href='https://www.danslescoulisses.com/dossier-ryan-oreilly-le-canadien-etait-dans-le-coup/?fbclid=IwAR3BVI0d0ZbNaSBuQh_TyK6bGW8Z-MhMOZyO6NuzQ1WXFzYNI1QAzcIeM64' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>InTheCoulisses.com</a>