The Montreal Canadiens are coming off one of their best seasons since they reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2021. They finished the season with 106 points, which was the most since the 2016-17 season, and had a 50-goal scorer (Cole Caufield) and a 100-point player (Nick Suzuki).
Even with all the positives, the way the Canadiens lost in the Eastern Conference Final showed they still have a long way to go to be legitimate Stanley Cup contenders. The pressure was on general manager Kent Hughes this offseason to add to this roster to get that done.
With a weak free agent class, the best chance for them to do that was through a trade. Even though Kent Hughes worked the phones to try to find that upgrade, he wasn't able to complete a trade. He even admitted how frustrating it has been this summer.
Montreal Canadiens 2026 offseason grade: B+
While he wasn't able to add anything to the roster to help them this season, the Canadiens arguably made the best move of the entire offseason. They were able to agree to a contract extension with Ivan Demidov that kicks in after this season and runs seven years with an AAV of $9.15 million.
During a time with rising salaries due to an increasing salary cap, this contract is going to look like a bargain very early. It is going to give the Canadiens a lot of cap flexibility in the coming years.
In addition to Demidov, the Canadiens also extended goalie Jakub Dobes with a three-year contract extension. Dobes was excellent in the playoffs and one of the reasons the Canadiens went as far as they did.
What would the Canadiens need to do to get an A+?
There is no question that it has been disappointing that the Canadiens really haven't been able to add to their roster. They clearly need another Top 6 forward, and ideally, that player is a center.
However, teams who have a Top 6 forward don't usually give them up very easily. There is still time between now and training camp for the Canadiens to find one and these type of conversations could change quickly.
Reportedly, the Canadiens were pushing hard for Kirill Marchenko, but the Blue Jackets have decided they aren't going to trade him. Dylan Larkin is another player who could fill that need and requested a trade, but he has a limited list of teams he is willing to waive his no-trade clause for.
Regardless of the direction they go, finding a Top 6 forward combined with the extensions they already have worked out would make this an A+ offseason for the Canadiens.
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