Canadiens have had a monster off-season while being quiet in free agency

The Montreal Canadiens were one of the stories of the 2024-2025 NHL season, as the organization’s young core powered the team to a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and a regular season record of 40-31-11.

The Canadiens went on to fall to the top-seeded Washington Capitals in the first round, but the groundwork has been laid for Montreal to restore its status as a must-watch team that is making moves toward being a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference.

Defenseman Lane Hutson earned the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie, and first-line center Nick Suzuki eclipsed the point-per-game mark for the first time in his young career.

Montreal was also a big player at the NHL draft, sending two 2025 first round draft picks to the New York Islanders to land top-pairing defenseman Noah Dobson before signing him to a long-term extension.

On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL player Colby Cohen discussed the ways that the Canadiens have bolstered their core this offseason despite not making a major splash on the free agent market on July 1.

Tyler Yaremchuk: I wanted to give some love to the Montreal Canadiens. I think the work that they did, for a handful of things, like the Noah Dobson deal, I love that trade. Here’s a guy who’s established, who can carry a blue line, and he’s 25. I’m not worried about committing $9.5 million to that guy because he’s going to get better. And then Kent Hughes and company, they sat there and said, “Well we have a surplus on ‘D,’ let’s go Zach Bolduc.” Add another legitimate 20-goal guy who, again, he’s 22. Everything they did fit their age range. They got better. They didn’t sacrifice a whole bunch of future assets, and here’s the other thing I love: they didn’t make a mistake.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode below…