Canadiens on Path to Contend Even Without Making Splash in Free Agency – The Hockey Writers – Montreal Canadiens

Montreal Canadiens forward Kirby Dach, a player many fans were lukewarm about over the prospect of him returning for 2026-27, is for all intents and purposes general manager Kent Hughes’ biggest free-agent signing this summer. Sure, Hughes signed rookies Ivan Demidov and Jakub Dobes to impressive extensions, but neither one was a free agent. Dach was.

When Hughes re-signed Dach, albeit it to a modest one-year deal that could walk the 25-year-old straight to unrestricted free agency next summer, he directly impacted his roster for 2026-27. Now, the degree he did is uncertain, but there is little doubt he did. And, despite Dach having struggled from a health and production perspectives for a large portion of his time here, it’s reasonable to conclude he will strive to be the best version of himself over the coming season. Simply put, there is a great deal on the line regarding his next contract, whether it comes with the Canadiens or another team. So, call it a win for the Habs, albeit a relatively small one.

No Mantha, No Problem

Critics of Hughes’ admittedly quiet offseason so far should stop to ask themselves, how likely is it that anyone the Canadiens could have signed either in addition to or instead of Dach, who wasn’t even a lock to receive a qualifying offer and come back at all, would contribute at a higher level?

There was some noise that the Canadiens had interest in Anthony Mantha.

Hearing it was not that serious and that a legitimate offer was never placed.

Mantha is going to a pretty good situation in New Jersey, who was looking for a top-6 forward this summer. https://t.co/pVpnQGD1rp

— Marco D’Amico (@mndamico) July 15, 2026

Will Mantha outscore Dach in a top-six role with the Devils next season? It’s possible, especially seeing as Dach should play in the bottom six. So, right away, it wouldn’t be apples to apples. If anything, Alex Newhook, who played last season opposite Ivan Demidov on the second line and broke out in the playoffs with seven goals in 19 games, represents more of a direct comparison. After his playoff performance, he should be given the opportunity to pick up where he left off on the second line. That should tell you all you need to know about what the Habs need.

No Room for Top-Six Help

It’s easy for analysts to say the Canadiens need to bring in top-six help for next season. However, the reality is, even if the Habs want more secondary scoring, the only open slots on the wing, i.e., where Mantha would play, would be in the same bottom six as where Dach will be playing (barring injuries). Even then, the Canadiens have depth scoring in the form of Alexandre Texier and Zachary Bolduc. Not for nothing, but, after somewhat regressing from a 19-goal rookie season with the St. Louis Blues in 2024-25 to score 12 with the Habs, the latter is kind of living proof of what Mantha would realistically be delivering if they had signed him instead.

Truth be told, what the Canadiens really need is more depth at centre, with Jake Evans, typically a fourth-line centre, having played on the Demidov line in the playoffs. Signing anyone at a different position would arguably equate to inefficient asset and resource management, when the hope seems to be for prospects currently in the pipeline to earn spots in training camp, like David Reinbacher on the right side on defense.

While the desire for additional veteran leadership is understandable on such a young team, the youngest to start 2025-26 in fact, there’s little evidence to suggest Mantha would help solve that issue. So, criticism that Hughes may have dropped the ball, failing to bring him into the fold by offering him a similar deal to what he signed with the Devils, is confusing.

Centre Claude Giroux probably would have ticked a lot of boxes, but he was unofficially always destined to re-sign with the Ottawa Senators. At the end of the day, you have to give credit where it’s due. There were similar assessments last summer, including with regard to Giroux, who had been available in the lead-up to free agency then too. The Canadiens did just fine without him, and should continue to do just fine, even in a stacked Atlantic Division.

There’s of course always room for improvement. However, Hughes is justified in not wanting to gamble on free agents who are well beyond their best-before dates. That includes a 38-year-old Giroux, whose production has dropped each season he’s played for the Senators.

While it’s by no means carved in stone as a certainty, through sheer organic growth the Canadiens were assessed to have improved the 12th most this summer. Of course, there are some caveats. This is the same Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic who had Nick Suzuki’s current contract as one of the worst in the league heading into 2022-23. So, not everything he says should be taken as gospel, but there is something to be said for how the Habs have risen in the standings each season since finishing in last place in 2022. Why not again in 2026-27?

My annual offseason look at which NHL teams improved the most this summer.https://t.co/tsLFu2ijMM pic.twitter.com/UOhR53Pb14

— dom (@domluszczyszyn) July 16, 2026

It may not have all been through organic growth, in that Noah Dobson represented a huge offseason acquisition last year, but that was via trade… for an in-his-prime top-pairing defenseman who filled a need. Mantha isn’t that. So, why is there so much reverse buyer’s remorse over Hughes holding off on potentially shooting the team in the foot? He may have the cap space, but, in a year where the free-agency class wasn’t all that deep, especially down the middle, signing someone almost equates to buying a bag of ice in the Arctic. Newsflash: Your drink is already cold, but now you have a plastic bag you don’t need and no garbage pick-up.

Based on the players who are still unsigned, free agency isn’t a viable option any longer, not that it ever really was unless the Canadiens could have found a way to sign Mason Marchment for a reasonable rate and term. So, the Habs find themselves in a position where, unless an opportunity for a trade emerges, they’re doing as well as should be reasonably expected, having gotten Demidov and Dobes and even Dach under contract cost-effectively so far. And, who knows, maybe Dach ends up a chip in a trade to bring in someone more valuable. Rest assured though, based on the names initially available, their ages, and the holes in the lineup the Habs actually need filled, the chances of that happening via unrestricted free agency were always low. Based on the money they’ve spent so far, the smart money is still on the Habs for 2026-27.