While no one expected them to make a big splash on the free agency market this summer, the Montreal Canadiens turned out to have a pretty busy offseason.
With a fair amount of additions and subtractions to the roster, we figured it was just about time to critically assess general manager Kent Hughes’ recent moves.
Ranked in order of worst to best, here’s a summary of the Canadiens’ biggest offseason transactions.
Edmundson trade
After more than a year of swirling trade rumours, the Canadiens finally parted ways with Joel Edmundson when they traded him to the Washington Capitals ahead of the NHL draft.
In return, Montreal received a third-round pick and a seventh-round pick in 2024.
While the trade allowed Hughes to create some salary space, getting Edmundson’s $1.75 million cap hit off the books, many fans thought that the team could have garnered a more valuable return for the solid 30-year-old defenceman.
Newhook trade
On June 27, the Habs traded prospect Gianni Fairbrother, a 2023 1st round pick (#31) and a 2023 2nd round pick (#37) to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for forward Alex Newhook.
A few weeks later, Montreal signed the 22-year-old to a four-year, $11.6 million contract.
While he has yet to play a game with the Canadiens, giving up a top prospect and two high draft picks for a 5-foot-10 winger is a gamble, especially when his best career-year saw him net 33 points.
Here’s to hoping, Newhook takes a big step forward under a new team and contract.
RHP extension
Amidst the injury-riddled 2022-2023 season, forward Rafaël Harvey-Pinard blossomed every time he was asked to take on more responsibility.
Brought in as a depth piece, the 24-year-old netted an impressive 14 goals and 20 points over a 34-game NHL stint in the second half of the season, getting his fair share of action on the team’s top lines.
As a result, Montreal awarded the Saguenay native with a two-year $2.2 million contract.
With his full potential unknown, many are eager to see what Harvey-Pinard can do over 82 games.
Monahan deal
Injuries aside, Sean Monahan is one of Montreal’s top centres.
And after it was reported that he would be able to start next season with a clean bill of health, re-signing the 28-year-old seemed like a no-brainer, especially on a one-year deal at $1.985 million.
Acquired by the Calgary Flames in August 2022 for basically nothing, Monahan potentially finding future success here is a win-win situation for the Habs.
Caufield signing
Possibly the top priority of this past offseason, Montreal announced an eight-year, $62.8 million contract extension for Cole Caufield back in June.
The 22-year-old forward, who netted 26 goals and 36 points in a 46-game span last year, has the potential to become one of the league’s most proficient goal scorers. And locking him in at a deal that will see him earn slightly less than linemate Nick Suzuki sets an important precedent going forward.
It also leaves the Canadiens with some cap space to make big signings in the future.
Petry wheel-and-deal
Back in 2022, the Canadiens traded defenceman Jeff Petry and forward Ryan Poehling to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Mike Matheson and a fourth-round pick.
A year later, in what can only be described as wizardry, Hughes managed to make two more lucrative deals involving the player.
With Pittsburgh looking to acquire Erik Karlsson from the San Jose Sharks, Montreal managed to get in on a three-way deal that saw them exchange Mike Hoffman and Rem Pitlick to the Penguins in exchange for Petry, goalie Casey DeSmith, winger Nathan Legare, and a second-round pick in 2025.
A few days after that, Montreal flipped the veteran blueliner (with some salary retained) to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for defenceman Gustav Lindström and a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2025 draft.
Not too shabby.