- Kent Hughes says he won’t make a move just to appease an impatient fan base
- Montreal’s biggest summer moves were locking up Ivan Demidov and Jakub Dobes long term
- Read below for the three questions facing the Canadiens, starting with second-line center
Kent Hughes watched the rest of the NHL reshape itself this summer and decided the Montreal Canadiens already had what they needed.
Montreal’s general manager was asked about standing still while other clubs churned their rosters, and he told NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman that the pressure to do something is the exact thing he plans to ignore.
“I think we have a very good core group of players in Montreal that are young. We won’t do a dumb trade or a dumb move that might appease the passionate fanbase on a short-term basis and a year later it’s, ‘What the hell did they get us into?’ We hope that we have their patience to trust that we’re going to continue to push this thing forward.”
So the two biggest moves of the Canadiens’ offseason were both internal. Ivan Demidov signed an eight-year extension on July 1, the first day he was eligible, and his agent got the word out:
Demidov led all rookies with 62 points (19 goals, 43 assists) in 82 games and finished second to Matthew Schaefer in Calder Trophy voting. He added nine more points in 19 playoff games.
A day later, Jakub Dobes got three years and $16.05 million:
Dobes opened last season as Sam Montembeault’s backup, won his first six starts and never handed the net back. He went 29-10-4 with a 2.78 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage in 43 games, the most wins by a Canadiens rookie goalie since Ken Dryden won 39 in 1971-72.
He then started all 19 playoff games as Montreal reached the third round for the first time since 2021.
Whether Dobes can carry a full season as the No. 1 is the first of three questions hanging over this roster. Montembeault is still on the books, and Jacob Fowler backed him up through the spring.
Health is the second. Kirby Dach has not played more than 58 games in any of his four seasons in Montreal, and a broken foot plus an upper-body injury held him to 37 last year. He re-signed for one year at $3.6 million on July 16.
The third is the one Hughes says he will not shop for. Nick Suzuki put up 101 points and won the Selke, the first 100-point season by a Canadien since Mats Naslund’s 110 in 1985-86:
Behind Suzuki, the center depth thins out in a hurry. Oliver Kapanen scored 22 goals as a rookie but sat for 12 of those 19 playoff games. Jake Evans is a checker. Owen Beck has 15 NHL games to his name.
Hughes is betting one of those three sorts out the second line on his own, because he has already made clear he is not trading for the fix.
