Canadiens Avoid Weak Free Agent Class to Fill Needs

The Montreal Canadiens have been making headlines this offseason. The club surprised almost everyone by making the playoffs last season, barely three seasons into their rebuild. Setting goals will be necessary for them to take another step forward. However, fans shouldn’t expect the next step to be a linear improvement on last season’s success.

Because of the team’s long-term needs and an unrestricted free-agent (UFA) class that hasn’t provided general manager (GM) Kent Hughes with many good options, Montreal is likely to avoid a spending spree and, instead, stick with playing it safe and rely on the trade market to attempt to address those needs.

NHL’s Weak Free-Agent Class 

Usually, when free agency opens, teams throw bags of money at players they want to sign. This leads to unmanageable contracts very soon after they’re signed. Fortunately, as a former player agent, Hughes understands this phenomenon and has avoided overpaying in free agency so far. The 2025 NHL UFA class was not only shallow, but it also didn’t have the players the Canadiens need to fill their roster holes. 

This class has few, if any, players considered top-line talents, and as we saw on Tuesday, teams approached free agency with caution. Hughes remains focused on long-term needs, opting to sign short-term depth solutions instead of going on a spending spree. This weaker class of free agents makes for a more active trade market and could increase the odds of some offer sheets occurring. The Canadiens are well-positioned to make trades, as they hold a plethora of draft picks and prospects that could be used to entice rival GMs.  

Canadiens Still Have Holes to Fill

Despite having a pipeline that is chock-full of talent, they still could use a top-level scorer, especially at centre. The decision to either trade/sign a centre long-term or find a stop-gap measure while they wait for Michael Hage to be NHL-ready – he is projected to become a second-line centre – is the choice Hughes was facing. But with a weak UFA class, the decision was essentially made for him.  

Hughes has refused to overpay. Looking at Ivan Provorov’s new $8.5 million deal for a second-pairing defenceman, his cautious approach is understandable (from ‘Ivan Provorov re-signing with Blue Jackets for 7 years, $59.5 million’ – The Athletic, 6/30/2025). It also makes Noah Dobson’s $9.5 million per season deal look like a steal. Instead of overspending, Hughes has chosen to use free agency to add depth for the team’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Laval Rocket, who could be useful NHL call-ups if needed. 

Canadiens Continue to Cook 

People will inevitably complain that the Canadiens won’t start the season with a legitimate second-line centre. What they need to remember is that it’s impossible to build a complete roster in one summer. Hughes entered this offseason with three glaring needs: a top-pairing right-handed defenceman, a top-six two-way scoring winger, and a top-six center. In one week, he has filled two of those needs, and rather inexpensively. The first need filled was the addition of Dobson. It cost him two mid-level, first-round draft picks and bottom-six forward Emil Heineman. When Heineman was healthy, he provided depth scoring and a forechecking option to keep defences on their toes. The second trade Hughes made covers the loss of that depth with a player of similar style, but with a higher potential ceiling, when he acquired Zachary Bolduc from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Logan Mailloux.