BROSSARD, Que. — The holes were gaping, and they were thoroughly exposed to everyone by the end of the Montreal Canadiens’ promising run to within three wins of the Stanley Cup Final.
But president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton and general manager Kent Hughes didn’t need to watch their team get dismantled by the Carolina Hurricanes to see them. Those two didn’t enter the playoffs under any illusions, and they certainly weren’t suffering delusions of grandeur after the Canadiens beat the Hurricanes 6-2 in Game 1 of the semis before losing the next four by a combined score of 16-5.
“Had you told us before the year that we’d get 106 points and make the Eastern Conference Final,” said Hughes, “I don’t know if I would’ve believed that.”
Not without an established second-line centre to balance Nick Suzuki’s overwhelming responsibilities while maximizing Ivan Demidov’s enormous offensive potential; not without a seasoned, high-quality, right-handed defence partner for superstar lefty Lane Hutson; not without two more big, tenacious, intimidating depth wingers; and especially not without the young players on the Canadiens having a deeper understanding of what it takes to win the Cup.
It’s arguable the pain-hardened Hurricanes might not even know. Even if they finally got past the stage they’ve stumbled on three times in recent years.
But it sure looks like they do get it now.
The Hurricanes also don’t have a single hole left to patch.
Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov and Seth Jarvis weren’t forced in the Hurricanes’ 12-1 stampede to the Cup Final to be the offensive catalysts they were in the team’s 113-point regular season because Logan Stankoven, Taylor Hall and Jackson Blake have taken on much of the burden while freeing up the bottom-six forwards to punish the opposition with their physicality and intensity. And the dynamic directly in front of goaltender Frederik Andersen is similar, with top-pairing defenders Jaccob Slavin and Jalen Chatfield buoyed by K’Andre Miller and Sean Walker, who have insulated third-pairing defenders Shayne Gostisbehere and Alexander Nikishin.
You combine that lineup composition with the Hurricanes learning from every humbling defeat to invest like they never had before in their unique identity under coach Rod Brind’Amour and you get a game strong enough to rip through the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers before tearing apart the Canadiens.
“In all facets of that series they were better than us,” said Gorton of the team poised to give the Vegas Golden Knights all they can handle in the Final. “I think that’s what we learned is that we have to be better in a lot of areas if we want to get to that next level. I think they showed us that. After that first game, they were very impressive, and we weren’t quite up to it.”
And that’s how it was supposed to be for the youngest team in the league. Especially in a series against one of the most battle-tested teams in the league.
What made the Canadiens’ run “promising” was that they defied the odds in the first round against the championship-pedigree Tampa Bay Lightning.
To see them follow up that seven-game win with a seven-game ousting of the up-and-coming, electrifying Buffalo Sabres was to watch them guarantee themselves the type of experience most teams their age would only gain over three playoff runs.
“I think the team learned a lot,” said Hughes, who added he knows that’ll be as beneficial to the Canadiens’ future success as any moves he and Gorton make over the coming months.
Especially if the rest of the Canadiens hold themselves to the same standard Cole Caufield holds himself to.
The 25-year-old came out after Gorton and Hughes spoke and told gathered media he “sucked” during the Canadiens’ 19-game playoff run.
It didn’t matter to Caufield that he still posted six goals and 13 points, or that his line with Juraj Slafkovsky and Suzuki was easier to hold in check with only middle-six and bottom-six forwards outside of Demidov playing behind him. What mattered to him was that his performance fell far beneath his own bar.
Same goes for Slafkovsky (six goals, 12 points) and Suzuki (four goals, 16 points), who both said they expect more from themselves — even if neither of them said they “sucked.”
“I think more importantly for them is going through it and understanding what it’s going to take and how to manage themselves going forward to be able to get through the playoffs round after round,” said Gorton. “It’s difficult. All three of them had great years. I don’t think we can lose sight of that. They all did something that they haven’t done before, a 30-goal scorer (Slafkovsky), a 50-goal scorer (Caufield), a 100-point season (Suzuki). We can’t lose sight of that.”
And neither can Gorton and Hughes, who must build more around those three players — the oldest of which is Suzuki, who turns 27 in August.
Armed with higher incentive than they’ve had at any other point since they stepped into their respective positions (Gorton in November 2021 and Hughes in January 2022), they can only hope the right pieces become available to them to plug as many of their holes as possible before Canadiens hockey resumes in September.
“I’ve started to make the rounds in terms of contacting the teams,” said Hughes, who added he isn’t looking to mortgage the team’s future for a player only capable of potentially helping the Canadiens win next year’s Cup.
Gorton emphasized that adding more to the Canadiens’ core is the primary objective.
“We did that we felt with (26-year-old) Noah (Dobson), with (22-year-old) Zack (Bolduc),” he said. “I think this summer we’ll go in with the same approach. We’re going to try to keep going, but we don’t know what’s next until it comes along. It’s early on, we just got eliminated, so it’s hard to say what might be available to us.”
We do know the Canadiens will have salary-cap flexibility, though, according to PuckPedia.com.
They have close to $11 million of it right now, with at least another $6.5 million to be freed up through Brendan Gallagher’s trade to another team.
“It’s pretty clear I’ll be moving on here,” the Canadiens’ winger said before his emotions overwhelmed him.
“He’s the ultimate competitor,” said Josh Anderson. “He’s meant a lot to this organization. To play 14 years with the same team, not a lot of guys get to do that in the league. He’s a tremendous guy off the ice, a family man now, and a guy that is going to be a friend for life. He’s meant a lot to this city. He’s just an absolute warrior and a guy that every team would love to have.”
The young players on this one benefited so much from Gallagher’s courage and mentorship that his impact on the Canadiens’ future success will go well beyond the cap savings.
Still, those savings will help, in small part because Bolduc is due to a contract extension. And if some of those savings don’t get applied to a new deal for Kirby Dach — the 25-year-old is also a restricted free agent, though with a more doubtful future than Bolduc in Montreal — then more will be available to spend to acquire pieces via trade or free agency.
Gorton and Hughes said they won’t be reckless on either front, even with the cap increasing to $104 million next season before jumping to $113.5 million for 2027-28, and even with more space to play with in the likely event they also move Samuel Montembeault and his expiring $3.15-million contract. Rookies Jakub Dobes and Demidov are both eligible to sign new deals on July 1 — a year ahead of their entry-level contracts expiring — and that must be accounted for.
Still, a big part of the promise the Canadiens hold is found in their cap structure. Seven of their core members are locked in through 2030, with none counting for more per year than Dobson’s $9.5 million.
That’s left Gorton and Hughes plenty of maneuverability to find and add the missing pieces.
They’d like to get all of them as soon as possible, though they’ll likely have to settle for just some. And if that means blocking — or trading — a prospect who could eventually fill a void but won’t necessarily be able to in short order, so be it.
“I think that’s inevitable for us,” said Hughes. “We’re certainly closer to being in a position where we would accept that scenario than when we first got here in January or February of 2022, where we would never have accepted it.”
Part of what both he and Gorton witnessed over the last seven weeks helped change that.
What Gorton and Hughes saw against the Hurricanes only confirmed what they already knew, though.
“We know we have plenty of work to do still to reach our ultimate objective to win the Stanley Cup,” said Hughes.
That last series left no doubt.