The Montreal Canadiens will have a significant advantage in the coming weeks, and Kent Hughes must take advantage of it

The bad news is that the Montreal Canadiens are once again out of the playoff picture this year. While surprises can happen, let's be realistic – it shouldn't happen, and that's okay.

In 2022, Hughes looked like a genius with his trades before the deadline. Last year, it was the opposite. We know that the Canadiens' GM always tries to maximize his trades, and the offers were simply too low in his eyes in 2023.

For this year, it should be more like two years ago for a very simple reason, as explained by Marc-Olivier Cook from the DLC website.


Last year, there were far fewer teams in the race. The playoff picture was almost drawn in advance, whereas this year is a whole different story.

There will be more buyers than sellers, driving up the bidding, and that's where Kent Hughes excels. Moreover, the Canadiens' GM has kept salary cap space since the beginning of the year, which will serve him well if he needs to retain salary on certain players.

With the returns from trades, the big names available in the upcoming free-agent market, and the $15 million in cap space for the Canadiens next year, we have every reason to be optimistic from this moment.

The ball is now in Kent Hughes' court. It's up to him to improve the team and take it to another level.