Every year, The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn writes an article in which in ranks the NHL teams’ front offices in light of how much confidence fans have in them. Over the last few years, the Montreal Canadiens [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens]’ brass has risen through these rankings, and this year is no exception. Last August, the Sainte-Flanelle’s front office landed in sixth place, but this year, it’s cracking the top five with a fifth-place finish. The Canadiens’ brass is the highest ranking amongst rebuilding teams since the first four places are occupied by teams that have had plenty of success over the years. 2 Canadiens Who Could Be Nice Surprises [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/latest-news/2-canadiens-who-could-be-nice-surprises] Canadiens: Slafkovsky Crystal Clear About Own Objectives [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/latest-news/canadiens-slafkovsky-crystal-clear-about-own-objectives] Canadiens: Montembeault Looking To Build On Career Season [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/latest-news/canadiens-montembeault-looking-to-build-on-career-season] Bill Zito and his staff come in first place, which makes sense, seeing they are the architects of the reigning and repeating Stanley Cup champions Florida Panthers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers], Jim Nill and the Dallas Stars [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/dallas-stars] come in second place which makes sense since Nill has won the last three GM of the Year awards and the Carolina Hurricanes [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/carolina-hurricanes] land in third place having showed that they know how to make lemonade when life gives them lemon (they got out of the Mikko Rantanen fiasco with Logan Stankoven). Julien Brisebois and his Tampa Bay Lightning [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning]come in fourth place. While he was handed the reins of a solid core by former GM Steve Yzerman in 2018, Brisebois had made this team his own and showed he can build on the fly while juggling around the salary cap like the best of them. Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton have been able to lead the Canadiens high in these rankings because of their ability to see the big picture and take calculated risks. While some gambles didn’t exactly pan out like they would have liked, or at least not yet (Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook), most of the time they fall on the right side of decisions. Trading Jordan Harris for Patrik Laine and a draft pick was a great move. While Laine hasn’t yet found his 40-goal-a-year scorer form, he scored 20 goals for the Canadiens in a season shortened by injury. Meanwhile, Harris wasn’t even tendered a qualifying offer by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Taking Sean Monahan off the Calgary Flames’ hands is still paying dividends in Montreal, one of the picks obtained in that trade three allowed the Habs to land right-shot defenseman Noah Dobson in a blockbuster trade. Instead of rolling the dice on mid-first-round draft picks, the Canadiens elected to go not only for a proven commodity, but for one that has the same age as their young core. This front office is pulling all the right moves; it’s now down to the players to translate those into results. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Canadiens stories, analysis, breaking news, and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw/sections/CAQqEAgAKgcICjCvqtILMO7F6QMwo-DfCA?hl=en-CA&gl=CA&ceid=CA%3Aen], never to miss a story. Follow Karine on X @KarineHains [https://x.com/KarineHains] Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/karinehains.bsky.social] and Threads @karinehains [https://www.threads.net/@karinehains]. Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/] for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens. Join the discussion by signing up to the Canadiens' roundtable [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens] on The Hockey News.
