**Which forwards are part of the “core” moving forward?** Using [EOTP’s organizational depth chart](https://www.habseyesontheprize.com/montreal-canadiens-organizational-depth-chart/) and [CapFriendly](https://fr.capfriendly.com/teams/canadiens), I attempted to find out who will stick around longer than two years at least. I decided to focus on the forwards only, because the situation on defense and between the pipes is too uncertain yet (to me anyway). Each player is listed with the amount of years they will have left two years from now, so at the start of the 2025-2026 season, and their cap hit (rounded). If I made any mistakes, feel free to point them out.
**Notice:** I know how useless it is to make predictions. But it’s fun and you can’t stop me! The goal is to try and guess the medium-term plans for the team, and to find out what your opinions are.
# Core
In descending number of years left (in two years):
* **Cole Caufleld** will have 6 years left at 7.9M (after: UFA). Hell yes. 50 goals when?
* **Nick Suzuki** will have 5 years left at 7.9M (after: UFA). My captain.
* **Alex Newhook** will have two years left at 2.9M. He will be a **restricted free agent** after that. I think Newhook would have to underperform *significantly* to be left out of long term plans. This would be quite surprising, considering they traded for him specifically.
* **Kirby Dach** will have one year left at 3.4M, but he will be a **restricted free agent** after that. Better keep some room for a big fat raise…
* **Juraj Slafkovský** will be a **restricted free agent**. Imagine the outrage if this guy gets traded. Simply not happening.
* **Rafaël Harvey-Pinard** will be a **restricted free agent**. It may be too early to put RHP in the “core” category, but his RFA status gives management a lot of control. His ability to play up and down the lineup is also an asset. Surprises happen, but I think he sticks around.
# Maybe (but probably not): RFAs on the edge
* **Jesse Ylönen**’s contract expires at the end of the current season (one year before my projection), but he will be a **restricted free agent**. He will be 25 and his current contract is worth 0,8M per year. Cheap depth? This is a “make it or break it” season for Ylönen.
* **Jake Evans** will be a **restricted free agent**. Will there be room for him in two years?
* **Michael Pezzetta** will be a **restricted free agent**. Will he force management’s hand? Can he take an extra step? I doubt it, but who knows?
# We’re stuck with them
* **Brendan Gallagher** will have two years left at… 6.5M. He will retire a Hab.
* **Josh Anderson** will have two years left at 5.5M (after: UFA). I don’t really see a team trading for him considering the term and cap hit, but you never know. Maybe the year after that, when he has one year left?
# They gone
* Like Jesse Ylönen, the following players will be free agents after the current season, but they will be UFAs : **Tanner Pearson** (will be 33, 3,3M off the books) and **Sean Monahan** (will be 30 but has injury history, 2M off the books).
* **Christian Dvorak** will be a UFA (4,5M off the books). End of an error.
* **Joel Armia** will be a UFA (3,4M off the books). Any takers on waivers?
# Conclusion
So that’s it for the 15 forwards currently under contract with the Montreal Canadiens. I think the six guys in the Core category will be on the roster in 2025-26. With a bit of luck, a handful of prospects will have joined the team by then (Roy? Beck? a surprise?).
My biggest takeaways from this exercise:
* It is very obvious that Kent Hughes has made moves to use cap space as efficiently as possible. Notably, Dach and Newhook are restricted free agents at the end of their deals. This gives management as much control as possible and avoids anchor contracts. The fracture with previous management is very apparent (see “We’re stuck with them”).
* Suzuki and CC are locked up in max term deals. It is reasonable to expect two more rebuilding years. After that, I see a **five year window** where both of these guys’ contracts will (hopefully!) provide tremendous value. With the young talent coming up and the draft capital the team currently has, this is very exciting.
I’m interested to hear your thoughts on all this.
Thank you for reading!
by FakeCrash
9 Comments
We will probably get that Connor Bedard guy
It’s great to read something so optimistic like this, thanks OP.
I agree on that core. My “hot” take would be Monahan being around a bit longer than we all think.
This is a good breakdown. It’s a little hard to imagine winning a cup before the Gallagher deal ends sadly. No one really does it with that much dead money.
Kind of hoping Monahan can stay somewhat healthy and stick around, doubtful though. Also one of the few on here that is fine with Anderson’s contract and truly believe he will either produce and stay with us or be used as a decent trade chip. Other teams still want this guy at that price, just a question of how bad they want him.
It’s rare I read a long post like this and have no disagreements with your analysis. Really well put together.
Personally, I think Anderson would be in high demand next year for a contender.
I’m not sold on RHP in the core, but I also see no reason to remove him yet.
Now….. do the D. That’s where the interesting future lies. So many bodies, so few positions.
Great breakdown! One mistake I noticed – Evans will be UFA. Probably gone then.
Disagree with RHP being apart of the core. He hasn’t proven enough. 20 pts in 34 GP is nice and all but he had a ridiculously high shooting percentage if I remember correctly something like 23%.
Google tells me 24.1%
Playoffs window is definitely starting in 25-26!
Overall, I think our top-9 will be decent, but we’re still missing 1 more elite-ish forward (who probably doesn’t exist in our current system).
My only disagreement is that I believe Josh Anderson has value.
There’s absolutely at least a few NHL GMs in this league who will overvalue his speed and size.