The Montreal Canadiens will have a significant advantage in the coming weeks, and Kent Hughes must take advantage of it
The bad news is that the Montreal Canadiens are once again out of the playoff picture this year. While surprises can happen, let's be realistic � it shouldn't happen, and that's okay.
In 2022, Hughes looked like a genius with his trades before the deadline. Last year, it was the opposite. We know that the Canadiens' GM always tries to maximize his trades, and the offers were simply too low in his eyes in 2023.
For this year, it should be more like two years ago for a very simple reason, as explained by Marc-Olivier Cook from the DLC website.
And in the West, we have the Kings, the Blues, the Preds, the Kraken, the Flames, AND the Wild, who are relatively well-positioned. [...]
And the more teams in the playoff race, the more teams will want to improve by March 8th." - Via Marc-Olivier Cook
Last year, there were far fewer teams in the race. The playoff picture was almost drawn in advance, whereas this year is a whole different story.
There will be more buyers than sellers, driving up the bidding, and that's where Kent Hughes excels. Moreover, the Canadiens' GM has kept salary cap space since the beginning of the year, which will serve him well if he needs to retain salary on certain players.
With the returns from trades, the big names available in the upcoming free-agent market, and the $15 million in cap space for the Canadiens next year, we have every reason to be optimistic from this moment.
The ball is now in Kent Hughes' court. It's up to him to improve the team and take it to another level.
| POLL | ||
In your opinion, who is most likely to leave before March 8th? | ||
| Sean Monahan | 201 | 40.6 % |
| David Savard | 55 | 11.1 % |
| Josh Anderson | 36 | 7.3 % |
| Jake Allen | 203 | 41 % |
| List of polls | ||
