It was an important week for the Montreal Canadiens that included thrilling overtime wins. In addition, the franchise locked up their dynamic, Calder Trophy winning defenseman for the next eight years and extended the leadership of hockey operations. This means that the architects of the blueprint for the Habs rebuild, as well as the core charged with the responsibility of executing the plan, will be part of the organization until at least 2030.
This is obviously great news to the ears of the Habs fanbase. The question remains, can the goal of winning the Canadiens 25th Stanley Cup be achieved over the next five years?
This Week’s Show
In addition to the question about a long-awaited championship, here are the critical issues facing the team over the medium term.
- Are the right core players in place?
- Are they on a compatible timeline to peak together at the same time?
- Will complimentary pieces be successfully transitioned from the prospect pool?
- Will the right veterans be acquired to support the core, without upsetting team chemistry?
These are the challenges ahead as the Canadiens management moves from core-building to roster-tuning in order to achieve their goal of becoming a perennial Stanley Cup contender. And this was the basis for our vigorous discussion on the latest episode of the Canadiens Connection podcast.
NEW PODCAST: Habs Core Locked In, What’s Next? | Canadiens Connection ep 370
We also discussed the following key topics on this week’s show:
- Will the injury bug derail the Canadiens’ winning ways?
- Lane Hutson steps in to resolve contract stalemate.
- Canadiens’ rebuild architects receive contract extensions.
CC Question of the Week: Which Canadiens prospect will be the most important addition to solidifying Montreal’s core? Michael Hage? David Reinbacher? Jacob Fowler?
It is our eighth season, with a new episode of the podcast dropping every Saturday afternoon. Be sure to subscribe using your favorite podcast app! Or watch our episodes on YouTube!
Canadiens Connection Podcast: Habs Core Locked In
Have you missed any episodes? You can find our complete catalogue of shows here at HockeyHotStove.
