The Canadiens ultimate checklist for a successful 2024 offseason

With the Montreal Canadiens 2023-24 season in its twilight, it’s time to start shifting gears and talking about what should be an ultra-interesting offseason for one of the NHL’s brightest up-and-coming teams. Although the points total doesn’t show it, Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes is methodically building not just a sound core but also an impeccable prospects pool. 

Now that this team has been building under Hughes for a couple of seasons, it’s now time to make some more strides. But before we get into them, let’s talk about some of the progress Montreal has already made. The first one should be the way Hughes struck gold on Juraj Slafkovsky, who has since become one of the leading scorers for the Habs. 

In what has been a breakout season for the 20-year-old, Slafkovsky logged 45 points and 16 goals in the 77 contests he played at the time of this writing. He’s also put his size to good use, registering 139 hits and 66 blocks, all while recording top-six minutes. 

Canadiens can make more strides with a successful 2024 offseason

While this team is bound for a bottom-two finish in the Atlantic Division in 2023-24, it still shouldn’t take away from their growth. Kent Hughes has built a formidable prospects pool, and it serves as the ultimate foundation in the rebuilding of one of the NHL’s most historic franchises. 

It’s also worth crediting Hughes for trading away players who weren’t going to be in Montreal when the franchise’s winning ways resumed, all the while getting sound compensation in the process. We saw this with the Sean Monahan trade, which netted a first-rounder and a third-rounder. The Jake Allen trade garnered Hughes a conditional third-rounder, and it could even increase in value to a second-rounder if the trade’s conditions are met.

But with such a low points total this season, Hughes is nowhere near finished with this team’s rebuild. Let’s check out the ultimate list of three different groups of transactions he must make for a successful 2024 offseason that will continue to transform Montreal into an even better organization.