Jeff Gorton is confident that the forward will develop properly

The Habs will be in the mix. That’s officially the Habs’ position this year, because Geoff Molson has said so. Of course, he’s not the first to say it this year, but now it’s clearer than ever.

So it’s up to Jeff Gorton, Kent Hughes, Martin St-Louis and the rest of the organization to make sure the Habs move forward.

Obviously, for the club to move to the next level, the defense will have to be better. And that’s something the Habs VP is well aware of: it will be an area to work on.

It’s clear that the defense has to be better. – Jeff Gorton

But he’s happy with his group and the amount of young defensemen in town. He wants more defensemen than not enough.

But what’s really interesting is how much he believes in his forward. After all, he believes the offense will “take care of itself” over time, which means he’s hopeful he has the right tools.

Gorton says he’s confident that the offense will take care of itself this season… but to be successful this year it’s clear that team defense needs to be better. #Habs

– Douglas Gelevan (@DGelevan) September 16, 2024

Does this mean he believes the right pieces are already in the organization? Possibly.

He’s probably not closed to the idea of adding forwards, of course, but he obviously has confidence in the current top-6. And that’s not counting the youngsters who are growing… #IvanDemidov

He also believes that the progression of the young players will help.

Note that Gorton enjoyed seeing the fans’ support and understands that as long as fans are going to see progression, he feels they’ll be behind the team to support it.

Our fans are incredible! They were over 40,000 over the weekend to come and see our prospects, there aren’t many places in the world where you’d see that! – Jeff Gorton

Extension

– Patrik Laine, a reward for the players.

Hughes says bringing in Laine was in part about rewarding current player for their effort and showing them mgmt is behind them in winning. He then added that they’re not expecting him to be a savior & understand the situation he’s coming off #Habs pic.twitter.com/f4TvbnKMmw

– Douglas Gelevan (@DGelevan) September 16, 2024