ALL HABS | NHL TEAM | MONTREAL CANADIENS

Major acquisition by Kent Hughes and the Montreal Canadiens in the summer of 2024: Star forward William Nylander might not be the solution

With over 21 million in cap space expected for the 2024-25 season, the stars seem to be aligning for Kent Hughes to make a splash in the free-agent market.

This cap space, of course, includes Carey Price's contract on LTIR and will increase with the salary cap rise. In short, the GM of the Canadiens will have a lot of flexibility with only three restricted free agents to sign.

There's a certain William Nylander who will likely be available since the Maple Leafs can't afford to keep him at the salary he'll command.

Pierre LeBrun asked 12 general managers what salary Nylander could command in the coming years, and responses ranged from 9 million to 12.25 million per season.

Kent Hughes would have the opportunity to sign the star forward, but according to Eric Engels, the timing may not be right for both parties.

"Even if the Canadiens added one of these three players [William Nylander, Elias Lindholm, or Jake Guentzel], I don't think they would be as advanced in their process over the first year. The promising defense, which is at the core of their future nucleus, still needs another year of experience after this one, and this maturation will coincide with that of Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Kirby Dach, who will all be entering their prime."

- Eric Engels

The Canadiens have a glaring lack of scoring in the top 6. There's no player showing signs of future potential to produce at a point-per-game pace or more, except perhaps Suzuki and Caufield, but they haven't yet consistently approached that mark to say their ceiling is there.

Since the organization chose to draft defensemen in the first round the year a player like Matvei Michkov is available, they will need to acquire this type of player through a trade or the free-agent market.

Previously on All Habs

Pierre-Luc Dubois denies rumors and reveals what really happened with the Montreal Canadiens

A monumental theft by Kent Hughes with the transaction between the Canadiens and the Flames involving forward Sean Monahan

Extremely dangerous incident: Jacob Trouba delivers a stick to the head of Trent Frederic from the Bruins

POLL
26 NOVEMBRE \| 285 ANSWERS Major acquisition by Kent Hughes and the Montreal Canadiens in the summer of 2024: Star forward William Nylander might not be the solution In your opinion, should Kent Hughes do everything to acquire William Nylander?
Yes	130	45.6 %
No	155	54.4 %
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