Habs Biggest Need is Revealed
The recent seasons have revealed one thing about the Montreal Canadiens: the organization is in dire need of adding offense to its roster.
The Habs have never had top-tier offensive talent, relying instead on an elite goaltender to contribute to the team's success. However, we have seen time and again that whenever Carey Price was sidelined, the team's performance in the overall standings suffered as well.
Despite having a pool of promising young players like Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Kirby Dach, the most pressing need for the club is to add offensive firepower.
The organization took a step in the right direction last year by selecting Juraj Slafkovsky, Filip Mesar, and Owen Beck with their first three picks in the 2022 NHL Draft. We could also include Lane Hutson in that group, as he will certainly have a significant role on the Canadiens' blue line in generating offense.
However, the Habs still lack a true elite point producer, the kind of player who consistently puts up seasons with 90 points or more.
Fortunately for Kent Hughes and his team, with the 5th overall pick in the 2023 Draft, they will have a golden opportunity to acquire such a franchise player.
While Connor Bedard and Adam Fantilli will likely go first and second overall, Leo Carlsson, Will Smith, and Matvei Michkov will be the next options. Regardless of who Columbus (3rd overall) and San Jose (4th overall) choose, the Canadiens will have the chance to select an elite offensive talent.
Given the failures of their previous top-5 picks, namely Alex Galchenyuk (2012) and Jesperi Kotkaniemi (2018), the team simply cannot afford to make a mistake this time, and this need must be addressed this summer.
| POLL | ||
Do you think the Habs need a true 90+ point scorer to be successful? | ||
| Yes | 246 | 81.2 % |
| No | 57 | 18.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
