Big hit to foresee: the Canadian will be among the most aggressive teams this summer

Dose
Crédit:

About a year ago, during his end-of-season press conference, Kent Hughes reminded that summer 2025 would be a pivotal moment for the Montreal Canadiens.

Why? Because the salary situation (increase in the cap, contracts of the CH) and the progression of the club are factors that dictate the line of thought of the management.

And don’t think that this has changed: the Canadiens will show up to the plate with the intention of hitting a home run in the market this summer.

This is a theme that often comes back for the Flannel, which has tried to improve its team on the trade deadline. It wasn’t done because it’s hard to make big trades during the season. Especially for a team that doesn’t aim for the Cup.

It was really a sellers’ market.

But as Marco D’Amico (RG media) reminds us in a recent article on the subject, this summer, the Canadiens will be aggressive. Whether on the free agent market or the trade market, it’s going to be busy.

The team should really be among the most aggressive teams in the market this summer, in fact.

Obviously, we should expect the club to look for help at center, since the wings are going well. Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Ivan Demidov will be in the top 6 next season.

And Eric Engels wouldn’t be surprised if Kirby Dach was on the wing of the second trio, with Demidov, in 2025-2026. Hey, hey…

The Canadiens, who shouldn’t give up on Dach in 2025, would therefore have Patrik Laine and Alex Newhook (if the club manages to find a top-6 center) on a bottom-6? With Brendan Gallagher, Josh Anderson, Emil Heineman, and Jake Evans, for example?

That’s if these guys stay. Nothing is certain.

So it puts things into perspective again: more than ever, it’s the second center position that the CH needs to improve. Nick Suzuki is a good first center, but he needs help.

And if the CH finds it, they can move on to the next level.

In rafale

– Note.

– Note.

– It’s good.

– Shane Wright: is he better than Slaf? [JdeM]

– Ouch.