Major acquisition by Kent Hughes and the Montreal Canadiens in the summer of 2024: Star forward William Nylander might not be the solution
With over 21 million in cap space expected for the 2024-25 season, the stars seem to be aligning for Kent Hughes to make a splash in the free-agent market.
This cap space, of course, includes Carey Price's contract on LTIR and will increase with the salary cap rise. In short, the GM of the Canadiens will have a lot of flexibility with only three restricted free agents to sign.
There's a certain William Nylander who will likely be available since the Maple Leafs can't afford to keep him at the salary he'll command.
Pierre LeBrun asked 12 general managers what salary Nylander could command in the coming years, and responses ranged from 9 million to 12.25 million per season.
Kent Hughes would have the opportunity to sign the star forward, but according to Eric Engels, the timing may not be right for both parties.
- Eric Engels
The Canadiens have a glaring lack of scoring in the top 6. There's no player showing signs of future potential to produce at a point-per-game pace or more, except perhaps Suzuki and Caufield, but they haven't yet consistently approached that mark to say their ceiling is there.
Since the organization chose to draft defensemen in the first round the year a player like Matvei Michkov is available, they will need to acquire this type of player through a trade or the free-agent market.
| POLL | ||
In your opinion, should Kent Hughes do everything to acquire William Nylander? | ||
| Yes | 130 | 45.6 % |
| No | 155 | 54.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
