The Montreal Canadiens made the playoffs and will be looking to build on that in the offseason.
The Canadiens have most of their young core all locked up to long-term extensions, so Montreal will focus on adding players this offseason. NHL insider Arpon Basu of The Athletic links the Canadiens to trading for Pavel Zacha of the Boston Bruins, the main rival of the Canadiens.
“The Bruins’ view of the future is unclear, but when you have Pastrňák and Charlie McAvoy in their primes, a full rebuild doesn’t make a whole lot of sense,” Basu wrote. “However, a bit of a retool is clearly in play here, and if Zacha can bring in a decent draft pick and a prospect with two years left on his contract, that would make a lot of sense for the Bruins to at least consider, even if it would mean dealing with the hated Canadiens.
“I’m not sure Zacha should be the Canadiens’ top target to fill that No. 2 centre role, but they could do worse,” Basu added. “The Bruins have Elias Lindholm signed long-term and could add a centre of the future with the No. 7 pick in this draft, though the thought of also nabbing one of the Canadiens’ picks at Nos. 16 or 17 should be tantalizing.”
Zacha has two years left on his four-year, $19 million deal and can be a solid second or third-line center for the Canadiens. Last season with the Bruins, Zacha recorded 14 goals and 33 assists for 47 points in 82 games.
Montreal has two first-round picks in the 2025 NHL Draft, which they could use to acquire Zacha, or perhaps could deal a prospect that they have plenty of. Regardless, Montreal needs to add another centerman, and Zacha makes sense as a fit.
Canadiens Front Office Believes They Still Need to Improve
Montreal was the youngest team in the playoffs, and the Canadiens are looking to build off of that this offseason.
The Canadiens could be active in the trade market to add NHL talent to their roster. Montreal’s Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations, Jeff Gorton, says there is still a lot of work to be done with the team.
“There’s a lot of benefits in what players were able to do this season, but we’re certainly not done,” Gorton said. “There’s a lot to do here.”
The biggest question for the Canadiens is if they let their young prospects take the roster spots or if they add veteran players.
“That’s probably the million-dollar question is, how to put these pieces together?” Gorton said. “We have some players that we think are knocking on the door — what kind of opportunity are we going to provide them? Can we wait out a summer and give them training camp to earn a spot?
“We all understand that it’s possible we’ll be younger, but we need to balance the youth part with experience, too. So that’ll be Kent’s problem this summer, and I look forward to how he comes up with those answers,” Gorton added.
Montreal projects to have just over $8.6 million in cap space.
Canadiens Expected to Address Center Need in Offseason
Montreal needed a center all season, and at the trade deadline, the Habs didn’t make a move for a center.
After the trade deadline, NHL insider Marco D’Amico of RG.com spoke to a scout who was confident the Habs would trade for a center this offseason.
“I’d be shocked if the Canadiens didn’t trade for an age-appropriate center this summer, especially with a young phenom like Ivan Demidov landing in Montreal next season,” said a pro scout. “From what I’m hearing, the Canadiens feel like that’s the missing piece to get them to the playoffs. Much easier to acquire a top-six center with term in the offseason than in February or March, especially when you’re mostly offering futures.”
The Canadiens have plenty of ammo to make a trade happen as Montreal is looking to be a legit Cup contender next season.
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