Canadiens need to add another top-six forward this offseason

While many in Quebec are joyous about how the Montreal Canadiens performed last season, it’s widely known that the team needs to continue to improve in order to be a sustainable threat.

The Canadiens made it to the playoffs for the first time in four years in 2024-25, and the team’s first postseason appearance in a “normal” season since the 2016-17 campaign.

They received significant contributions from many of their top players, especially captain Nick Suzuki, whose efforts this past year pushed him to a different level of stardom. They also had Cole Caufield and Juraj Slavkovsky have great runs, along with the surprising coming-out party from this year’s Calder Trophy winner, Lane Hutson.

However, the team still needs more up front in order to be successful again next season. Only four players hit the 20-goal mark this past season, including Patrik Laine, who could’ve scored more had he not been injured during the preseason.

According to CapWages, the Canadiens have a little over $11.3 million in cap space, giving general manager Kent Hughes some room to play with to bolster the forward group for next season.

On Wednesday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli explains why the Habs need to go after more talent up in their lineup this summer, despite coming up empty-handed thus far.

Frank Seravalli: I think that they’re trying to make something happen. I think they’ve been pretty aggressive to this point and have been striking out, and they’re willing to deal from a position of depth. They’ve got lots of picks. They’ve got lots of prospects. They also have a lot of defensemen. So, they’re willing to be aggressive to try and go out and land something. I think Kent Hughes has been pounding the pavement on that for two to three weeks now and hasn’t really gotten anywhere.