Should the Montreal Canadiens Have Done More This Offseason?
It was a quiet off-season for the Montreal Canadiens. Outside of re-signing their young defenseman in Arber Xhekaj, Justin Barron, and Kaiden Guhle and giving Juraj Slafkovsky a long-term extension, Canadiens management did not add too much during free agency.
However, there is a process Vice President of Hockey Operations Jeff Gorton and General Manager Kent Hughes are going through for the Canadiens to be a consistent playoff team. They have their young core of Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki locked up. Not to mention what they have in the system.
So, it seems a little premature to think the Canadiens are ready to take the next step and compete for a playoff spot. Montreal should get closer, but being in a playoff spot should happen in the next two or three seasons.
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Gorton and Hughes want Montreal to be a consistent playoff team, not a team that goes one-and-done. That is why it is surprising to hear a former head coach say the Canadiens should have done more this off-season.
NHL Network: Last week on NHL Network, Tony Luftman and Bruce Boudreau discussed the two divisions in the Eastern Conference. They moved to the Atlantic Division, and Boudreau was asked which team he thought had more work to do. He said the Montreal Canadiens.
** NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Tony Luftman: “Next topic, theam with something left to do, maybe more than one, something from the Atlantic Division. Who you picking?”
Bruce Boudreau: “Well, I think Montreal’s got to do something.”
Luftman: “Okay.”
Boudreau: “You know, like, I mean, Montreal Canadians have won the Cup 20-plus times. 24 times, to be exact. You know and like, I mean, they’ve sort of, I know it’s a rebuilding, and people talk about rebuilding and everything and all that, but I don’t think they did very much in the off-season to get better, unless they’re going to get better through growth, just on internal growth.
But I mean, in the tough Atlantic Division, I think if Montreal should be one of the prime places where you want to go. They have 21,000 people and one of the best buildings to play in every night. And I just don’t think they’ve made enough improvements to get into that potential playoff position.”
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These comments are interesting because I am not sure what he expects from a team that will miss the playoffs again, as they are still rebuilding and preparing for the future.”