With training camp starting in about 5 weeks, the Habs and Kent Hughes have had a very productive summer thus far. The acquisitions and signings of Dobson, Bolduc, Veleno and Blais have made the Habs a better team than they were in 2024-2025. The loss of Armia, Dvorak and Heniman (sad about Emil, love that player) is too bad, but it was necessary in order to keep the team young and manage the cap.
Hughes really did an amazing job revamping the D core, as it's set for the next five year and more in my opinion. The forward core still needs some work, but Hughes is somewhat handcuffed with older contracts with large cap hits in Anderson at 5.5 for the next two years and Gallagher at 6.5 for the next two years. Both these players bring a lot to the team on the ice and in the dressing room, but having 12 million tied up in two players playing 11-13 minutes is a lot of money. Laine is also making a lot of money at 8.7 but his contract expires at the end of 2026. When the 2026-2027 season ends, the Habs will have 20.7 million dollars off the books, but a lot of that will be allocated to Hutson, Demidov and Montembeault.
But at this juncture, in 2025, what should the Habs do?
The obvious need is a second line centre. The names of Rossi, MacTavish and Kadri have been mentioned often among others, but the price to make those deals will be high. The Habs have a lot of high end prospects to make a deal, but should they? Michael Hage is a great prospect and is a right hand shot centre. He's about two years away, if not more, from playing full time with the Habs, so it would seem they have an internal solution to the centre issue, but this is a lot of pressure to put on a young kid. Aatos Koivu is another interesting prospect who is a right shot centre, but it remains to be seen where he will slot in when he's NHL ready.
So the question remains, what should the Habs do?
To be honest I'm not quite sure. My instinct tells me they should stay patient. The Habs have a lot of players who can slot in at that position for the nonce with Dach, Newhook, Bolduc and maybe even Owen Beck. I don't see the harm in this as their Cup contention window will be in about 2-3 years, when those big contracts are up and the Habs younger core of Suzuki, Cole, Slav, Demidov, Hutson, Guhle and Reinbacher have had time to develop and mature. When it is time to contend, it will be the perfect moment to make a deal to send them over the hump and insulate the younger players coming up during that time in Hage, Koivu, Mooney and others.
At the end of the day I trust Kent Hughes. He has proven to be an amazing GM. Pretty much each move he has made has benefited the team immensely one way or another. He has the patience, the vision and the guts so the Habs are in good hands which is an encouraging thought.
What say you? Should the Habs deal or remain patient?