It’s been a busy offseason for the Montreal Canadiens, and GM Kent Hughes has been very active. After his team made the playoffs last season, Hughes decided it was the right time to give it a big boost by acquiring a first-rate right-shot defenseman in Noah Dobson. His arrival allowed the GM to move Logan Mailloux to get some much-needed help up front in Zachary Bolduc. Montreal will also be able to rely on rookie Ivan Demidov from the start of the season, and he could be a game-changer. s

Hughes also went hunting on the free agency market, signing Samuel Blais to a one-year, one-way contract, adding veteran netminder Kaapo Kahkonen on a one-year, one-way contract, and center Joe Veleno on a one-year deal. On paper, that’s a lot of positive moves, and it’s easy to see why Adam Proteau has the Canadiens topping his summer splash rankings, but it’s a bit early to say the Habs will be the most improved team.

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It’s not about being negative, but what looks good on paper can sometimes not pan out on the ice. Just look at what Barry Trotz did with the Nashville Predators last offseason. He added Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei, prompting most pundits to anoint the Preds as the most improved team. However, they stumbled out of the gate and all the way to the finish line.

The Canadiens may not suffer the same fate, but it remains a possibility. While the Habs brought on plenty of help up front, the departures of Joel Armia and Christian Dvorak could hurt. No, they weren’t offensive powerhouses, but they played a significant role on the Canadiens’ penalty kill, and it’s far from obvious who will be taking over those roles. The Habs were ninth in the league when it came to penalty killing with an 80.9% success rate. Being able to stifle an opponent’s power play is an essential part of the game, especially for a team that spent 423 minutes in the box last season, the highest total in the league (Utah Hockey Club was second with 413 minutes).

Arber Xhekaj accounted for 118 penalty minutes, Josh Anderson for 90, Jayden Struble for 52, Mike Matheson for 51, Kaiden Guhle for 47, Juraj Slafkovsky for 45, Kirby Dach for 40 (across 59 games only), Brendan Gallagher for 39, David Savard for 36, and Lane Hutson for 34. Of those top 10 offenders, only Savard isn’t with the team anymore, so it’s fair to expect the Canadiens to take plenty of penalties this year as well.

As much as you improve a team on paper, you won’t know if those improvements have had the desired effect until you hit the ice, and while something can look good on a roster sheet, you can’t see if it will take until it’s put to the test.

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