Kent Hughes certainly has his work cut out for him if he hopes to make the Canadiens competitive as soon as next season. While fans won't remain patient indefinitely, an important decision has been made.
Indeed, there's no question of skipping steps and trying to finish the rebuild too early. The Canadiens have a solid plan, and despite the pressure, the management has decided to stick to this plan to the letter.
The reason is quite simple: there are only two players becoming unrestricted free agents without compensation this year, Tanner Pearson and Chris Wideman. It's next summer when the timing will be more favorable, with Christian Dvorak, Joel Armia, and contracts ending, like Jake Allen and Jeff Petry.
The names that come up are those of Trevor Zegras and Martin Necas, but in both cases, the price to pay would be higher than what Kent Hughes would want to pay during a rebuild.
We'll see, but if there's no transaction completed to free up salary, it will be difficult for the Canadiens to take on a big contract.
