BUFFALO, N.Y. — The owner took a deep breath and collected himself. He looked exhausted.

How could he put into words seeing a team that he had the courage to rebuild in 2022 reach the Eastern Conference final in 2026?

“It’s been four years we’ve been trying to get to a point where we have a team that can be competitive,’’ Montreal Canadiens owner Geoff Molson said outside a jubilant visitor’s dressing room on Monday night after his team’s dramatic 3-2 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres in Game 7 of the teams’ second-round series. “We just won two seven-game series. It’s really impressive. These guys are resilient, and they never give up.”

To kick off the rebuild, Molson parted ways with the team’s general manager, Marc Bergevin, who is now the right-hand man to Sabres GM Jarmo Kekäläinen. Bergevin left behind some key pieces, though, having acquired Nick Suzuki and Josh Anderson via trade and Cole Caufield via the draft. His most important parting gift was signing Suzuki to an eight-year deal with a $7.875 million cap hit in the fall of 2021, some six weeks before his exit from Montreal.

All of that was noted by Bergevin’s successor Monday night.

“There were a lot of good hockey players here when we arrived,” Canadiens GM Kent Hughes said moments after his team’s win. “I think people know that. Certainly hockey people. Not just good hockey players, but really good people. You don’t rebuild a team from scratch, right?

“We took what was here, and we added to it. So hats off to (Bergevin). He deserves credit, too.”

Classy of Hughes to note that. But the work of Hughes and Jeff Gorton, the team’s president of hockey operations, has been nothing short of fantastic in making all of this happen so quickly.

The Canadiens made the playoffs last season, one year ahead of schedule. Now they’re in the NHL’s final four ahead of schedule, too.

Had it sunk in 20 minutes after Alex Newhook’s overtime goal on Monday night?

“Right now? Still trying to recover from the second and third periods,” Hughes said with a smile. “But I’m proud of the guys. They’ve come a long way. I think everybody — the coaches, the players — these experiences are invaluable as we continue to try to work toward something.”

That is what is so fascinating about these Canadiens: They are still working toward something, and yet here they are, halfway to a Stanley Cup.

Viewed through the lens of being one of the last four teams alive in the playoffs, the Canadiens have arrived as contenders. But for management, this is simply a significant part of a journey that is not yet complete.

Gorton and Hughes are the architects of the fast rebuild, and it is normal for them to view this run as something that remains in progress.

Hughes is one of two outside-the-box hires at the heart of everything — an agent born and raised in the Montreal suburbs who was long viewed by Gorton as management material. But he needed convincing before leaving behind a successful career representing players.

One of those players was Mike Matheson, for whom Hughes traded when he became GM.

“I hadn’t given it much thought, really, until he called to tell me he had the opportunity to do it, because he was calling all his clients at that point,” Matheson said after Game 7. “And so I started thinking about it, and I think just his hockey mind, his knowledge, his ability to see potential where others might not is pretty special.”

All of Montreal’s goal scorers in Game 7 were also acquired via trade: Phillip Danault just before the Christmas trade freeze, Zack Bolduc in the summer and Newhook at the 2023 draft. Gorton’s and Hughes’ fingerprints are all over this run.

So are the fingerprints of Martin St. Louis, the other outside-the-box hire who kicked the rebuild into overdrive.

“It’s been a long journey for sure, from when we went to the Cup Final and finished in last place in the whole league to where we are now,” Suzuki said. “There’s been a lot of different steps. We trade for (Newhook). We trade for (Kirby Dach). We drafted really well. We got some studs through the draft that had an impact right away.

“So that really put our process further in motion, and ever since Marty came, we’ve had the belief we could be a really good team really quickly. Guys have really bought into how we play and everything Marty preaches. It’s really cool to be in this situation this fast, being such a young team. We just have a lot of fun, and we just want to keep the journey going.”

Process is a very important word here. Management has one that is ongoing. St. Louis has one that has led the Canadiens to where they are today.

The Canadiens are the youngest team in these playoffs and the youngest team to reach the conference final since the 1993 Canadiens, the last team in franchise history to win the Stanley Cup. St. Louis has never used that youth as an excuse.

“It’s easy to just use the age as a crutch,” St. Louis said. “Two years ago, we knew that we lacked experience, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t advance and mature. So I feel like the process that we have in place and the environment and the mindset, I think it’s allowed us to grow no matter what, how old, we are. Because I think, as an older team, you can still grow.

“You can learn anything if you put your mind to it.”

These have been St. Louis’ greatest attributes: the ability to get his players to learn, and the ability to get them to put their minds to it.

Molson, Gorton, Hughes and St. Louis have all played their roles in how the Canadiens got here. And the league has taken notice.

Awaiting Montreal next round are the Carolina Hurricanes, an organization that’s made the playoffs eight straight seasons dating back to 2018-19 and reached the conference final four times — the kind of sustained success the Canadiens hope they can now emulate.

The Hurricanes, a perfect 8-0 this postseason, will most definitely be favoured, but they understand the growth of the young contenders they’re about to face.

“They are a really skilled team that can make you pay for every mistake,” Carolina GM Eric Tulsky told The Athletic via text message. “If we do not play a sound, disciplined game against them, it will cost us.”

At least Carolina isn’t in the Atlantic Division, which is becoming a murderer’s row, especially when one can safely assume the two-time Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers will be back to their contending ways next season after getting half their roster back from injury.

They also see the Canadiens are here to stay. The Sabres, too.

“Kent, Jeff and Marty have done a wonderful job of creating a plan and sticking to it,” Bill Zito, president of hockey operations and GM of the two-time defending champs, told The Athletic via text message. “They’ve built a wonderful team that can play so many ways. And they’ll be good for a while. Same with Jarmo and Buffalo. This division is fantastic.”

Tell the Tampa Bay Lightning about that.

After losing to Florida in the playoffs two straight years, they were on the short end of an incredibly close, seven-game series with Montreal in the opening round.

The Bolts aren’t going away, either. But there’s a respect factor for Montreal that’s real.

“They have a top-line centre, a Norris-calibre D and a big-time goalie,” Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper told The Athletic. “With the youth, depth and commitment to defending, Canadiens fans will be attending hockey games in the spring for years to come. Kent and Marty have done a great job.”

Four years after the rebuild began, the Canadiens have arrived on the other side of it. A trip to the NHL’s final four cements it beyond a doubt.

And the beauty of it all is that the job is not even finished.