Moving Forward
It will be interesting to see how Marc Bergevin approaches the offseason. As of their elimination in Game 6, the Montreal Canadiens will officially select 16th overall in the draft. While they missed out on the lottery, the organization is around the selection area that often sees talented players fall to them. Such was the case in 2019 when the Canadiens selected Cole Caufield 15th overall in 2019.
From a performance standpoint, there is much for the general manager to be pleased with. As previously mentioned, Nick Suzuki, the main piece of the Max Pacioretty trade in 2018, performed well above expectations and Jesperi Kotkaniemi, selected 3rd overall in 2018, demonstrated why the team made the choice they did that.
However, it cannot be forgotten that had it not been for the expanded playoff format, the Canadiens would have been far from playoff contention. It would make sense for Marc Bergevin to stay the course and build for the future, which means that several changes may still come. Tomas Tatar now has a year remaining on his deal.
After a career-year in points in the regular season, the team may look to acquiring assets for what essentially the throw-in piece in the Suzuki trade. Max Domi is another player whose future role with the team remains in question. In his first season, Domi managed to reach 72, but his second season with the Canadiens saw a dip to 44 points. In the playoffs, Domi was unable to get on the board and only recorded 3 assists. An RFA this summer, many will keep an eye on how Marc Bergevin approaches the situation.
Putting a potentially busy offseason aside, fans of the Montreal Canadiens got to see their team partake in two extra rounds of hockey that would have seemed inconceivable back in the spring and for many, that is all they could have asked for.
As Shea Weber said in his post-game interview, the Canadiens may be closer than people think.