The 2023 offseason is coming to a close, and the Montreal Canadiens are preparing to begin training camp. The work done by general manager (GM) Kent Hughes overall has fit in with his stated plan of rebuilding the team. However, not all choices or actions are without a downside. With that, let’s dive into the latest 3 Up, 3 Down.
Plus One: Opportunistic Trades
In the summer of 2022, the Canadiens followed through on a trade request for defenceman Jeff Petry and sent him, along with center Ryan Poehling, to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Mike Matheson and a fourth-round pick.
Only one year later, Hughes took advantage of his salary cap space and managed to bring Petry back, but only for a week as he flipped the defender to the Detroit Red Wings. This move allowed him to add some forward depth for the American Hockey League (AHL), a depth defender for Montreal, and two picks in 2025 (a second and a fourth-round pick). He also has an additional goaltender in Casey DeSmith, who is a likely candidate to be flipped as Petry was.
Plus Two: Not Chase Expensive Free Agents
With the knowledge that the Canadiens were not ready to compete, Hughes was quiet in the unrestricted free agent (UFA) market. In a summer where the team is still unsure of how its young prospects will respond, and a weak UFA class, he wisely shied away from spending money he did not have, or could better spend in future seasons.
Instead, Hughes chose to focus on adding to his AHL roster by retaining UFAs and adding players that can complement and insulate the wave of young prospects entering the professional ranks. He also chose to spend minimally on players in need of an opportunity to prove they can be NHL players, such as Lias Andersson, who is a former top-10 draft pick who has yet to find consistency or his potential, and all it cost was a league-minimum contract for a year. This approach will allow the Canadiens’ salary cap structure time to restabilize from the Marc Bergevin era of contracts.
Plus Three: Providing Opportunities
Hughes’ approach to the offseason was not to make the team immediately better to win now. Instead, he approached it in a manner that would provide opportunities to the young players in the system. It only makes sense at this stage of the rebuild to do that, as a GM can’t be espousing the idea that he is rebuilding using the NHL Entry Draft and development if all he does is add veteran NHL players to act as roadblocks to those young prospects.
Related: Canadiens’ Hughes Building a Winning Culture in Montreal
The three-way deal with the Penguins and the San Jose Sharks didn’t just add future picks, it was the vehicle to make room on the NHL roster. Moving out Mike Hoffman and Rem Pitlick opens two roster spots that will allow more competition at training camp in September. With Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Jesse Ylonen proving they are ready to graduate from the AHL, this transaction demonstrates that the rebuilding plan built on the draft is starting to bear fruit.
Minus One: The Reaction to Reinbacher
This minus isn’t on the organization, it is on the vocal minority on social media. In the immediate aftermath of the Canadiens selecting David Reinbacher with the fifth overall pick, there was an angry backlash. It is understandable to see fans wanting “their guy” selected, in this case, Matvei Michkov, but when it didn’t happen, there was an overaction, and one that could give players pause to sign with the Canadiens in the future. These vocal “fans” had spent all of the 2022-23 season getting far too emotionally attached to the team tanking for one specific player and when they didn’t get their way, lashed out at the player on social media. But it was far too negative as Reinbacher’s only sin was not being the player those fans wanted to be selected.
Minus Two: Overpayment
The Canadiens made two big offseason trades, but the first one, done during the NHL Entry Draft week, added Alex Newhook to the roster. The 16th overall pick in 2019 by the Colorado Avalanche could not reach his potential fast enough for the 2022 Stanley Cup champions. The hope was that he step in as their second-line center, but the 22-year-old forward was not able to develop at the pace that the team wanted or needed. Because of this, he was dealt to Montreal who have the luxury of time to be patient, and a role in the top six for him immediately.
But this is a minus, and it may just be nitpicking, but for now, it looks like Hughes overpaid for Newhook. In a draft where the expectations were that high-potential players would be available with the 31st and 37th picks, once Hughes traded them for Newhook, the initial reaction was to say “too much”. While it may turn into a perfectly fair trade, the opportunity to buy low from Colorado, a team in win-now mode and looking to make cap space, was there.
Minus Three: Retain Salary
While the Canadiens are still in a rebuild, they are a year away from entering the stage where they need to have the financial flexibility to sign their restricted free agents. Moreover, they’ll need space to have the option of using free agency to add any missing pieces. In the Joel Edmundson trade to the Washington Capitals, retaining 50% of his salary was a strong move as it opened up a roster position for the Habs’ youth, but the $1.75 million would be retained only for one season.
But with only three retentions available, and an opportunity to be an active seller of rental players at the deadline, retaining a second salary in the offseason limits options. More problematic is that this second retention is for two seasons. In trading Petry to the Red Wings, Hughes retained 50% of that contract, meaning Montreal has $2.34 million on its cap until 2025.
Overall, the 2023 offseason was positive for the Canadiens. While there are some very minor downvotes in all that he accomplished, it is still a net improvement from the end of the 2022-23 season. There is no direct linear path from cellar dweller to Stanley Cup Contender, but at least the path Hughes is taking the Habs is on the upswing.
