DETROIT — The Montreal Canadiens were one of the NHL’s feel-good stories last season: a surprise jump into the playoff dance, a rebuilding plan paying early dividends and invigorating an incredibly passionate market.
All the more reason that expectations need to be tempered this season. The construct is showing all the signs of heading in the right direction long-term. But that’s no guarantee another big step looms this year. The NHL doesn’t always work that way.
“Probably more than anything, it is the tempering (of expectations),” Habs GM Kent Hughes told The Athletic this week at the NHL general managers and head coaches meeting. “It’s great that the fan base is excited about it. As a general manager, you worry that the players don’t get too far ahead of themselves. It’s a little bit harder when people see you coming than when we sneak up on them.
“We pushed hard in exit interviews, and the message all the way through (to players) has been, ‘It’s going to be a lot harder to do the same, and if you want to do more individually and then how do you take care of the group? What are you doing besides taking care of your own game?’”
So there’s a little insight into what Habs management is trying to instill in the players ahead of the 2026-27 season. The next step is harder.
There were certainly lessons learned in that first-round playoff loss to the more seasoned and top-seeded Washington Capitals. It provided valuable experience.
“I think it did,” Hughes said. “Some of it individually. Like you know, for somebody like (Juraj Slafkovsky), watching someone like Tom Wilson impose himself on the game physically. Alex Ovechkin imposed himself on the series physically. Just learning from a veteran team — the calmness. But I think there was also some optimism born from the series, too, because even though we lost in five games, we didn’t feel we were outclassed at any point.
“By and large, it felt like the group in the exit meetings didn’t feel like they lucked in and got embarrassed. We’re ready to take another step.”
General manager Kent Hughes believes the Canadiens are “ready to take another step.” (Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
It was another aggressive offseason, including a blockbuster for top-four blueliner Noah Dobson and an important add up front in Zack Bolduc, and yet at the same time, the team got even younger with the retirement of David Savard and the losses of free agents Joel Armia and Christian Dvorak. That puts more emphasis on the young core, now needing to trust the experience it has gained in the past few years.
“We lost a couple of important guys that were important to our team in Dvorak and Armia and Savard,” Hughes said. “We probably got a little more talented, adding Dobson and Bolduc to the group. But we need our young core that’s been here to continue to take strides.”
The pressure the core felt in playing playoff-type hockey over the second half of the season and achieving a playoff berth makes the Canadiens “more hardened” coming into the season, Hughes said.
It wasn’t a perfect summer. It rarely is for any team. The top priority heading into the offseason was finding a No. 2 center — the same goal several teams had around the NHL. That No. 2 didn’t magically materialize. So the Canadiens pivoted with the Dobson and Bolduc deals. It’s all about getting better in different areas despite not addressing the No. 1 void.
“There was more to accomplish,” Hughes said. “I mean, if we were trying to build a Stanley Cup-winning team for the start of the 2025-26 season, it would have required more than just a second-line center. So I think we’re continuing to try to build something which will give the Montreal fan base a team that can compete for a long time and compete to win Stanley Cups.
“Do we think we’ve arrived at the end goal? No. Where there have been opportunities to improve our team in an intelligent way, we’ve done that.”
And in the interim, Hughes said, they’re not ruling out Kirby Dach or Alex Newhook for the No. 2 center job. They’re comfortable giving both another stab at it.
“We know those guys have more potential, and I believe where there’s an opportunity, those guys would relish that and do everything they can to try to seize it,” Hughes said.
Of course, he has to say that. But I’m sure the reality internally is that they know that’s still an area that eventually needs fixing. The same can be said for many teams.
The Habs traded away a quality prospect in young defender Logan Mailloux for Bolduc, and they know they have to be careful about how many young players they use in trades that way. But it also cements, not that it was ever in doubt, how the organization feels about young right-handed blueliner David Reinbacher and his eventual place in that top four. Some teams, no doubt, would have broached Reinbacher’s name with the Canadiens in the offseason, but that was a no-go for Montreal.
“Right-shot Ds don’t fall off trees. That’s why the cost of acquiring Noah Dobson was fairly significant,” Hughes said. “It allowed us to make that move. There’s only so many guys that can play in your top four. We’re hopeful that David gets a full season under his belt. Whether that’s starting in (AHL) Laval or starting in Montreal will be up to him. But we took him fifth overall because we really believed in what he has to offer and we look forward to him being a big part.”
Speaking of top-four D, Lane Hutson had a rookie season to remember with a Calder Trophy win and is now in a position to cash in with his next contract. The Canadiens under Hughes have made it a practice not to comment on contract negotiations. But the question I asked the Habs GM was more conceptual, touching on what Habs top executive Jeff Gorton told Arpon Basu earlier in the summer about cap percentage in a rising cap world and how that might influence a contract for an important young star like Hutson.
Agents around the league are all emphasizing what percentage of the cap a salary is in negotiations right now.
“I would say that we’re more inwardly focused than outwardly focused in terms of what we do,” Hughes responded. “I don’t think that’s a novel concept. I think there’s other teams in the National Hockey League that look at it that way. I get it that you can’t turn a blind eye to everything, but I would say that if we’re successful building the type of organization that we’re trying to build in Montreal, then people are going to want to be part of it.”
Which is to say — I think, anyway — that the Canadiens are trying to build a contract culture that allows them to flex their ability to piece together as many core elements as possible under the cap. Where Hutson ends up in that puzzle remains to be seen.
In the meantime, the Canadiens earlier this week paid Carey Price’s last signing bonus as that contract enters its final year, leaving only $2 million on it in real cash for the rest of the season. So, finally, it’s a contract that’s easier to move if the Canadiens feel they need to create cap space from his $10.5 million cap hit (and don’t want to be limited in other moves by putting him on long-term injured reserve). In fact, with insurance covering a portion of that $2 million salary, there’s really a minimal fee left on it.
But what’s the cost to move that final year of Price’s deal? My sense is the Habs aren’t desperate enough where they’d spend a first- or even a second-round pick. With the rising cap — and rising cap floor — there are teams that may actually need Price’s contract in the event they move bodies out ahead of the trade deadline. So there could be a mutual benefit in a Price trade at some point.
“Potentially, potentially,” Hughes said. “I think if we can find ways to create cap flexibility in an intelligent way, then we will. But it’s not an at-all-costs scenario.”
And finally, Patrik Laine is on an expiring contract. There were some people who wondered if Laine might be moved this summer. It didn’t happen. The Habs are looking forward to welcoming back a refreshed version of the Finnish winger.
“He’s excited. He’s been in Montreal all summer,” Hughes said. “I think he skated twice before he came to Montreal last year. And then turned around and hurt his knee. He’s been in Montreal, on the ice and in the gym — he’s been probably more focused on how he can be the best version of himself to help the team win. So I’m looking forward to seeing what he’s got.’’
(Photo: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images)