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Rebuilds in the NHL: Habs have been much more efficient
Mathis Therrien
Rebuilds in the NHL: Habs have been much more efficient
Credit: The reconstruction of the Canadiens de Montréal has really been effective. Of course, it’s not completely finished, but it has taken a very beautiful turn this season, as the habs are already back in the playoffs after missing them for only three consecutive seasons. Missing the playoffs for a fourth consecutive year this season would […]

The reconstruction of the Canadiens de Montréal has really been effective.

Of course, it’s not completely finished, but it has taken a very beautiful turn this season, as the habs are already back in the playoffs after missing them for only three consecutive seasons.

Missing the playoffs for a fourth consecutive year this season would have been a first in the history of the Canadiens de Montréal.

This is really a great feat and it shows how well the reconstruction of the habs is going.

Seriously, who would have believed in 2021-2022, when the habs finished last in the NHL and got rid of many players, that three years later, the Canadiens would be back in the playoffs?

The new management of the Canadiens is really doing a great job, and this must clearly be making other teams jealous across the NHL.

The habs have surpassed several teams that started their reconstruction long before, and that must be hard to swallow for the fans of those teams.

I think especially of the Buffalo Sabres and the Detroit Red Wings, who have been in reconstruction for a long time.

 

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In fact, the two teams have been accumulating draft picks and young players for much longer than the Tricolore, but the habs are back in the playoffs before them.

In nine years, since the last time the Red Wings made the playoffs, the Canadiens have had time to be at the top of the NHL, go to the Stanley Cup final, finish last in the NHL, start a reconstruction, and return to the playoffs.

Seriously, this must really be hard to see for the Red Wings fans, especially considering that the habs edged them out for the playoffs this season.

Imagine the Sabres fans now.

In short, the new management has really been excellent in their way of carrying out their reconstruction, and this is bearing fruit now.

They will not have made the same mistakes as other reconstructions, like Steve Yzerman with the Red Wings, who signed many veterans to surround the young players, which only stuck the team with the salary cap.

Kent Hughes has been patient, and he still is, as shown by his inaction at the trade deadline, and this may pay off very well for the Tricolore in the future.

His patience is already bearing fruit, as the habs are in the playoffs before the Red Wings and the Sabres.

And there, I compare the habs to the two longest and most failed reconstructions, but it’s worth noting that the Canadiens have also surpassed several other teams that started their reconstruction before the habs.

  • Ducks d’Anaheim: in reconstruction since 2019
  • Sharks de San Jose: in reconstruction since 2020
  • Coyotes de l’Arizona (now Utah Hockey Club): in reconstruction since 2021
  • Blackhawks de Chicago: in reconstruction since 2020
  • Blue Jackets de Columbus: in reconstruction since 2020
I would even add the Ottawa Senators to this list, who have been in reconstruction since 2018, and who have just returned to the playoffs after several seasons of misery and false hopes.

In short, the habs have been more efficient than several teams, and we must therefore tip our hat to Kent Hughes.

Of course, I’m not saying that Hughes’ job is done, on the contrary, but this season is a great proof that things are going in the right direction for the habs.


Overtime

– In fact.

– It starts today!

– Big disappointment from the Islanders.

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