The Montreal Canadiens have had general manager (GM) Kent Hughes at the helm of this rebuilding plan for just over two years. In that time he has worked at accumulating draft picks and other assets that would help towards adding the youth a rebuild relies upon.
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But the question as the team enters the offseason in preparation for the 2024-25 season is, are they ready for the next step? Has Hughes assembled all the necessary pieces for a Stanley Cup contender, and is the organization ready to provide the structure necessary to provide this storied franchise with an opportunity to add another championship to its very large trophy case?
Essential Pieces for a Rebuild
To judge a rebuild, first, we need to define what Stanley Cup contending teams need to have that gives them that status. There are seven needs, which add up to 11 skaters and one goaltender.
- An elite forward, preferably a center
- Two top-line players
- Three productive top-six forwards that play a two-way game
- A strong third-line center
- A top-pair defenceman that eats minutes in every situation
- Three mobile top-four defencemen, one being a power play (PP) specialist
- A reliable starting goaltender
While having these needs met means they have the talent to compete, to truly become a contender they also need depth. Now to go over this checklist and compare it to what is in Montreal’s system.
Canadiens’ Puzzle Pieces
Montreal finally has a legitimate top line with Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and the emergence of Juraj Slafkovsky. However, the team lacks scoring depth, and that is why Hughes will likely swing for the fences this summer for some added scoring, even if only to fill a role temporarily.
Using the checklist above, Hughes has:
- An elite forward in the form of Ivan Demidov
- Two top-line players
- Three productive top-six forwards that play a two-way game
- A strong third-line center
- A top-pair defenceman that eats minutes in every situation
- Three mobile top-four defencemen, one being a power play (PP) specialist
- A reliable starting goaltender
Montreal has all the pieces in place for a successful rebuild. But there is a major caveat to this checklist, player development. The majority of these players are under 24 years of age and will need a couple more seasons before they start to become what they were drafted to become. Some of the players that form the core, Ivan Demidov for instance, aren’t even in the NHL yet. Before that can happen, the youth in place will need to be given room to develop and grow into the roles they were brought in to fill.
Canadiens Making Way
The Canadiens are now facing the difficult task of creating space to allow those core pieces to be put into place as they can only carry 50 NHL contracts. With 41 players under contract, there is very little room to add to the roster, which is likely why Montreal did not provide qualifying offers (QO) to Jesse Ylonen, Mattias Norlinder, Lias Andersson, and Filip Cederqvist, and followed that up by trading Jonathan Kovacevic to the New Jersey Devils. Hughes has made it clear that he won’t do anything that would get in the way of their long-term goals.
“Say we had a chance to go sign or trade for a right-handed veteran defenceman who makes us better for next year. We won’t do it if it blocks (Logan) Mailloux or (David) Reinbacher the opportunity to progress in the NHL.”
– Kent Hughes
The work on the first day of free agency underlines the plan to not sign players who will block the path of the youth, such as the signing of Alexandre Barre-Boulet for one year. Even the big names, such as Patrik Laine, whom the Canadiens are rumoured to be interested in via trade have two years or less remaining on their contracts.
With that in mind, there will be a need to create more space for the tidal wave of youth beginning to crash onto the shores of the island of Montreal starting with NHL roster veterans Christian Dvorak, Joel Armia, and David Savard. All three are in the final year of their contracts. Not only would moving them out open up $11.35 million of cap space, but it would also provide an opening for rookie professionals to grow into an NHL role by the trade deadline, Owen Beck, for instance.
The Next Steps
The last two and a half years have been the easy part. That sounds odd, considering the hard work that went into acquiring assets and scouting the players they earmarked as the future of the club. But it’s true, the hard part is now staring the Canadiens in the face, developing these young assets into the players they project to become. There is no need to rush the plan or the players.
Brian’s point is about patience. There is no need to rush this stage of the plan. Doing so may cause the Canadiens to miss an important step in the development of their most important asset, prospects. If Montreal can’t do the development side of the plan, then it’s back to square one of the rebuild. Player development is a vital component of any rebuild, especially in today’s age when the league is trying to get players in younger and younger. The focus of the Canadiens development plan is as other teams, skills-based, but there is a larger component that is a major focus for the club, how hard individual players compete, how they react to adversity, and the speed in their decision-making.
This is seen in their choices at the draft table, selecting players who want the challenge of the Montreal market. Demidov spoke of this during his interviews with the Canadiens as he told them that he wants the challenge. Player development isn’t just working on training, nutrition, or skills, it is also a focus on mental fortitude. In a market like Montreal, it is important to train the mind and psyche to handle personal growth, but also the ability to avoid distractions. To help with that, they have a mental skills coach, Jean-François Ménard, on staff to address this vital aspect of development. This asset is not kept just for NHL players, its American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate players have access to all of the same development coaches as the Canadiens skaters do.
Hughes and the management group have to focus on managing the development windows of the core players, to ensure they can all provide their top performances during the same few seasons that a championship window is open. They also have to manage the salary cap properly to keep that same core together for a long period. This summer is where fans can mark the beginning of the process of the Canadiens opening their competitive window.
