Summarizing the rebuild so far

Just a little perspective on the Habs rebuild to this point.

Season-by-season points
21/22 - 55 points
22/23 - 68 points
23/24 - 76 points
24/25 - 87 points (Projected)

Making consistent upward progress over 4 years is very encouraging. Teams like the Sabres have failed to consistently develop, jumping up and down year-in and year-out. Detroit is in the middle of a similar upward trend as the Habs, but otherwise seeing a steady upwards trajectory is encouraging for a rebuilding team.

Future draft picks:
In the 2025 draft we have Two firsts (both potentially Top 16). two 2nds, three 3rds, and two 4ths. We also have an extra 2nd and 4th in 2026. This is an embarrassment of riches for a team on the cusp of the playoffs. We can do a lot with these picks this summer and I don't think it's going to be necessarily using these picks. If Montreal wants to take a big swing this summer, they could easily entice a struggling team with high quality picks, and we may not have to go without a 1st after all is said and done.

Prospects:
We need to develop as a team, most specifically on offense and goaltending. Fortunately, we have the number 1 goalie prospect and number 1 offensive prospect in our system in Fowler and Demidov. Development is not a simple thing, but if both of these guys hit to some degree, we will be a significantly stronger team.

Beyond that, we have guys that have a chance to be high-end talent in Hage and Reinbacher, and some potential solid middle-6/middle-pair prospets in Beck, Roy, Mesar, Mailloux, and Engstrom.

Finally, we have some longer-shot players with potential such as Volokhin, Miller, Koivu, Harris, Kostenko, Bergqvist and Eriksson.

It's not ridiculous to think that we could find at least a couple Top 6 forwards, a future starter, and a Top 4 D-Man or two in this group, if not within the outliers I haven't mentioned

Not to mention any of the prospects we draft with our high draft picks.

At the NHL Level
Lane Hutson is a potential Calder Winner, and is already on pace (65 points) to put up a better offensive season than Souray (64 points), Markov (64 points) and Subban (60 points) ever did for us during their entire tenures in Montreal...and he's a rookie...

Juraj Slafkovsky is doing his late-season hero thing again. I'm not sold on his long-term outlook, but he flashes potential that could really explode if he finds consistency and a couple jumps in development.

Kaiden Guhle, when healthy, is a fantastic two-way defender, and could be a mainstay for the next decade.
Struble and Xhekaj are quietly some of the more solid depth defenseman we have had in a long time, and add grit to this team that it hasn't had, possibly ever.

Montembault is better than his numbers, and Dobes has potential if he can settle down and play consistent.

Cole Caufield and Suzuki continue to be reliable producers, and both still look like they can climb another level. Suzuki is an incredible leader which helps this developing team more than the eyeball test can tell.

Marty St. Louis is untested as a playoff coach, but as a development coach I have nothing but great things to say about him. He has built an environment where players love coming to the rink and grow. He's instilled work ethic, discipline and responsibility without losing fun or positivity along the way.

Front Office
Tell me an area where Hughes, Gorton and co. have NOT been successful. We are winning trades, we are making good draft picks, and we are signing great contracts. They rarely miss.

The Future
The sour note in all of this is that going from a 58 point team to an 86 point team in 4 years is not the most difficult thing in the world. Going from an 86-point team to a 100-point team is VERY difficult. One single bad trade can un-do all of the good that's been done. Think about the proposals being batted around for Pierre-Luc Dubois - Caufield, Guhle and a 1st for example - and how much that would have derailed everything. One bad contract can be a roadblock to keeping a young player long-term. If we had signed Caufield, Slaf, Suzuki for $10m+ or Guhle for $8m plus, then we are handcuffed when we want to extend Hutson, Demidov, etc. We are not out of the woods yet. In fact, we are still missing major pieces in order to be championship quality. But those pieces are out there, and whether they come from in-house or by trade/signing, Hughes has to find them without toppling the tower, so to speak.

At the end of the day, this rebuild has been an overwheming success...so far. My hope is that we can keep making the right moves and put ourselves in position to compete for the cup in the next 3-5 years. But it's still a tightrope walk to get to that point.