Where the Montreal Canadiens stand if they return with the same team

The Montreal Canadiens will be heading into year three of their retool, and the question is whether or not they can compete if they don’t make any changes.

Through Geoff Molson and Eric Engels, we know the Montreal Canadiens are in year two of their retool plan. Those two seasons haven’t warranted anything positive in the regular season but have resulted in Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Cole Caufield in back-to-back NHL Drafts. It’s also led to other young talents such as Nick Suzuki and Alexander Romanov, who are likely to be the new generation of the team’s core.

This year is spoken for to some extent. The Habs are one of 24 teams able to continue their season, and although they are the weaker teams on paper, several things can fall into place that could make their series against the Pittsburgh Penguins interesting. But say, as everyone already expects, the Canadiens lose and the Penguins advance. What next?

You’d like to think Marc Bergevin has something under his sleeve and makes a move to improve the roster. Unfortunately, the current and future state of the salary cap is going to make that difficult. This upcoming free agency, for example, is going to be unlike anything we’ve ever seen as players who were expecting to make some serious bank can’t as other teams can’t afford to with a probably flat cap.

For now, the only moves that seem to be in Montreal’s future are the return of Ilya Kovalchuk and Nate Thompson.

It’s been talked about a lot, but Bergevin moved Kovalchuk at the deadline with the full intention of resigning him in the summer, similar to how they handled Tomas Plekanec in 2018. It’s a win-win scenario. Kovalchuk gets to return to an organization that gave him a shot when his value was low and perhaps plays well enough to either help the Habs contend for a playoff spot or move to another.

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Engles has mentioned previously that there is also interest in Thompson returning platooning the fourth line with Jake Evans. He was beloved in the locker room and by the coaching staff, providing energy to that fourth line while also killing penalties.

What if that is all the Montreal Canadiens do? What if Bergevin has aspirations for moves, but the state of the salary cap makes teams reluctant to make them? What if the Habs return for the 2020-21 season with the exact same roster?

Well, to begin, we know it’s not going to be the exact same roster as Romanov will be on the blueline. We can also assume that both Victor Mete and Max Domi are signed.

At that point, performing will come down to the play of the players and whether they can exceed anything they’ve ever put out. Domi needs to find that gear that made him dominant in his debut season. Jonathan Drouin needs to return to that same mindset and level of play he had at the beginning of the 2019-20 campaign. And as “unfair” as it may be (in quotation marks because he’s the highest-paid goaltender in the league and needs to stand out), Carey Price needs to play at his peak.

It will be the most stressful season for Bergevin if he walks the Habs into the season, having done nothing of significance. His job is likely on the line as three years is enough time for a plan such as this to begin showing results. A championship isn’t exactly required, but Montreal will, at the very least, need to make the playoffs.

Making some kind of trade puts more stock in Bergevin’s portfolio for actions towards that goal instead of relying on faith and optimism. At the same time, the already flaming perception from the media and fans will be even tougher to withstand another relatively quiet offseason.

The ball is in Bergevin’s hand. This year’s hockey will dictate a lot of those future actions, but Bergevin will make it very difficult for himself if he comes back next season with the same team.