The Canadiens Did Improve This Off-Season

How did the Canadiens improve this offseason?

The Canadiens had a flew flaws to fix this offseason and general manager Kent Hughes set out to address them, but he didn't rush into anything to jeopardize the long term plan he's had since day one: building a perennial contender. Even though the issues have yet to be entirely addressed, The Athletic's Dom Luszczyszyn still ranks Montreal as the 15th most improved team since the start of the off-season and I've got to say I understand why. The general manager has managed to avoid the traps others have fallen in over the years.

Montreal's first issue was its overcrowded blue line. For years, the drafting team stacked the cupboard with defense prospects and while it's good to have some depth on the blue line, you still need to play four lines of forwards. 

Someone had to go and after taking stock, Hughes decided to move Jonathan Kovacevic even though he's a right-shot defenseman. The waiver pickup was a placeholder until the next wave of young defensemen was ready. 

Logan Mailloux had a great season in Laval last year and when he played the final game of the year against the Detroit Red Wings, he did not look out of place at all. Furthermore, he's a right-shot blueliner, it's almost as if they were rolling out the red carpet for him. 

A healthy Kirby Dach should already help improve the top six, but even if he remains in the line-up all year long, there's still an empty top six slot. Of course, Joshua Roy has shown some nice offensive instinct, but is he ready for this kind of limelight? Perhaps not...

Could Josh Anderson bounce back? Maybe but it's not guaranteed. Joel Armia? Good question, he has been inconsistent in the past. There's no way to get into Hughes' head, but it might be what he was thinking when he decided to do some shopping on the free agency market.

It didn't turn into a spending spree since none of the players Hughes was interested in were interested by the terms he offered. Money wasn't the issue though, the issue was the length of the contracts offered. The general manager could have upped the ante, added a few years to his offers, but he refused to do so and that's how the Canadiens improved.

Had he added more years to the contract offers, he would have found himself saddled with big contracts past the moment when the last two big Marc Bergevin deals he has on the team (Brendan Gallagher and Anderson) will come off the books. At that time, he will only have the contracts he really wants in his line-up and some money to shop with on free agency market towards players who are not over the hill. 

By refusing to get drawn into the negotiation game, Hughes kept heading towards the moment when the Canadiens will really be his own team, the one he believes will put an end to the 31-year draught Montreal is stuck in. When that happens, the GM will be rewarded by quenching his thirst in the greatest Cup of them all, the Stanley Cup.