Final Thoughts
Your guess is as good as mine - whether or not Hughes trades any of Matheson, Monahan or Savard. But the value cannot be ignored, it’s obvious that the Habs need some talent on offence. With the draft in June, the Canadiens could add some more picks ahead of the trade deadline.
So long as the scouting makes good use of the arsenal of picks that Hughes accumulates, the team will continue to rise. The strength of the rebuild will ultimately come from the development staff's ability to push out NHL players. A method that has been used a bit recently, at least with Joshua Roy and Emil Heineman is brief NHL stints.
These stints allow players to get a feel for the NHL, which they bring back with them to the AHL to use as an assignment. Understanding weaknesses and strengths that can be worked on in the American league to prepare for the NHL, is a strong development strategy. It hurts to see Roy go back down, but with Laval playing better of late, adding Roy to the mix should help steady the offence.
It's not a process that just happens overnight, Tampa Bay and Boston built up their core over time. The Canadiens will require the same amount of time to get there, so suggesting that Marty has overstayed his welcome is ridiculous. If you listen to the players, they talk about Marty with a gleam in their eye, they have bought into his systems.
To be fully transparent, even with the new arrivals next season, the Habs will need another year to grow and develop chemistry. Rome wasn't built in one day and Patrick Roy didn't become famous for one game. Like Juraj Slafkovsky, the Habs will need a bit of time to slot the pieces into the best spot and then find consistency.