It's hard not to be optimistic about the future of the Montreal Canadiens.

They have a number of young difference-makers at every position, which gives them plenty of flexibility to continue to rise up the standings in the Eastern Conference. That makes it a little puzzling that they haven't done very much this summer.

They made a few minor-league deals and a pair of nice contracts that will keep some very good young players — goalie Jakub Dobes and Ivan Demidov — in town for years to come. They also ate some salary to send veteran Brendan Gallagher to Vancouver. But that's it.

For a team that just went on an unexpected, exciting run to the Eastern Conference final, that's pretty surprising.

The Habs have the ninth-most cap space in the league right now, nearly $13.4 million. That's a ton of room to add talent if they want to.

Of the RFAs who are still unsigned, it's hard to envision Kirby Dach, Zack Bolduc or Arber Xhekaj collectively costing even half their remaining cap space.

Supposing, then, that they have about $7 million to spend, why aren't they spending it? It could be that they're working on a trade, or that they just don't see anyone worth pursuing at the price point that makes sense for them.

Even with basically all of their core locked up for years to come, there's a clear need to upgrade.

The reason is simple: they didn't have a ton of difficulty in the first two rounds, but the Carolina Hurricanes pushed them around without a ton of difficulty in the conference final.

Young teams need to learn some lessons, and young players get better individually. That's clearly in the cards for the Habs, but you don't make up the gap we saw between them and Carolina, or other elite, experienced teams in the East, through maturation alone.

Montreal was not a particularly good 5-on-5 team last season, either. Like a lot of young teams with elite burgeoning talent, they showed flashes of it, but on the whole, their underlying numbers don't grade out especially well. They beat their all-situations expected-goal differential by about 33, and a lot of that was buoyed by strong special teams.

While it's easy to see them as a better-than-average team from a talent perspective, even a little thinning of that number (perhaps because we can't expect them to have the third-highest power-play shooting percentage in the league again) could cost them more than a couple of wins.

There is a risk, too, in their goaltending situation.

Dobes and Jacob Fowler were very good last season and might still have more growth in their games — especially Fowler, who's only 21. But it's rare that teams roll two 25-or-younger goalies all season, and Sam Montembeault's 2025-26 campaign (.872 save percentage, 4.9 goals allowed below expected) gave them very little reason to trust him going forward. Any regression for those two younger options might be a problem.

Florida will no doubt improve, Tampa and Boston still have elite goaltending, Buffalo has a clear interest in — and perhaps an inside track on — Connor Hellebuyck, Ottawa might still be in the mix, Toronto could improve (not that you should hold your breath), and it feels like the Islanders or Capitals should take a step back toward playoff contention. So, suddenly, the playoff path isn't quite the wide avenue it was last season.

Adding some talent to the top six, like Elias Pettersson or Anthony Mantha, helps raise the floor for this team, which, thankfully, is their goal.

It is clear from GM Ken Hughes' public comments that he understands he can't be done quite yet. But the longer he waits to get the help he knows he needs, the louder the questions get about the team's next steps.

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