With free agency frenzy behind us, several teams made a lot of note worthy additions such as the Panthers with Brady Thachuk and the Leafs landing the first overall pick (somehow.....I call shenanigans) and drafting Gavin McKenna.
During all this, Kent Hughes ands company have only made some minor additions to the team by picking up Reilly Walsh and Brett Berard. Both players should add some depth to Laval and perhaps they will see some time with the Habs should they perform well and Montreal gets hit by the injury bug.
Now, some are criticizing Kent Hughes for being inactive thus far and missing out on free agents such as the recently signed and Montreal born Anthony Mantha. So, is this criticism warranted? Should they have signed some of the free agents that were available? Nope.
Cap Space Heaven
As it stands, the Habs have 9.783 million in cap space going into the 2026-2027 season having recently signed Kirby Dach to a one year 3.6 million dollar deal , and they still need to sign restricted free agents Zachary Bolduc and Arber Xhekaj.
One thing Kent Hughes does well is mange the team's cap. Signing those two players is a priority as it will give the team a clear idea of what the cap hit will look like and determine which addition fits within their team and cap structure. Hughes is extremely intelligent, fair and patient, and I have no doubt the outcome of those signings will be beneficial to the team. I like that he's not rushing to sign just any free agent for the sake of signing one.
I'll keep this short, but I'm glad the Canadiens did not sign him. He's a good player and I'm certain he will do well in New Jersey, but I don't find he's the player which will push the needle for the Habs. Furthermore, had they signed him, it means less playing and development time for young players such as Bolduc, Kapanen and Dach (when he's healthy) and other young players in the system.
Also, I don't really see Mantha as being vastly superior to the last three players I mentioned, plus they are still young and developing. As usual, Hughes made the correct move here. Mantha had a great season but it was really an outlier for the 31 year old winger. Just looking at his 21.7 shooting percentage confirms this. The Habs want young, established top six talent. Unless he was replacing Josh Anderson, he does not fit.
Cool Hand Kent
The lack of moves does not mean Kent isn't working hard. Like I previously said, he's a patient man and incredibly smart.He's looking to make a move for a player that will be a lock in the top 6. We've seen this with his rumoured interest in Matthew Knies, Robert Thomas and Mason McTavish to name a few.
The Habs went to the Conference Finals with their current squad, so if the start the season with the same team, I won't be too angry about it. The one thing Hughes has is time. The core of Suzuki, Caufield, Hutson, Slafkovsky and Demidov are all signed long term, and so are Dobson and Ghule. Hughes is in no rush to make a move, and signing a veteran like Mantha is not something that is at all necessary.
Also, Hughes has a lot of talent in the pipeline. If he can't get the trade he wants, players like Michael Hage, Alexander Zharovsky, LJ Mooney and the recently drafted Gleb Pugachyov are going to play for the Habs eventually and are projected to have great NHL careers. And those are only some of the forwards coming up to join the already well established core who are all signed for a long time.
At the end of the day, the Habs have a great team. They do have needs at forward, but Hughes is in a perfect position. He can wait for young established forwards via trade to become available, or wait for one or two of the Habs highly touted prospects.
All Hughes needs to do is wait. Like Moriarty.