Although the offseason is nowhere near done, the Montreal Canadiens have all but concluded their rebuild with the addition of Noah Dobson, Kaapo Kahkonen, Zack Bolduc, and several two-way depth pieces.

Additions

The obvious top addition so far has been defenseman Noah Dobson. Despite struggling this past season, he hit a career-high in 2023-2024 with 70 points. Dobson is another speedy defenseman who can slot perfectly within the Habs’ defensive core. As NHL.com points out, Dobson ranks within the 91st percentile among defensemen in 20-plus-mph speed bursts and the 89th percentile for top speed among defensemen. Dobson also has 77 power-play goals over the past four seasons, and can slot in perfectly with Lane Hutson (another speedy defenseman who gets a lot of ice time) on the first defensive pairing, and could take Mike Matheson’s spot on PP1.

The other acquisition, Kaapo Kahkonen, will most likely fill in as the third goaltender or replace Primeau’s spot in Laval, pairing with top goalie prospect Jacob Fowler. While Kahkonen played at the NHL level with the Avs this year, he severely struggled across multiple teams (below .900 sv%) until finding a spot with the Charlotte Checkers, putting up a .906 sv% for the Eastern Conference-winning club in both the regular season and playoffs.

The depth acquisitions include players like Marc Del Gaizo, Alex Belzile, Sammy Blais, Nathan Clurman, Sean Farrell, and swapping Logan Mailloux for Zack Bolduc. Players like Belzile and Clurman are on two-way contracts, meaning they serve as warm bodies for the Habs to utilize when injuries occur. Belzine, a 6-foot-2, 206-pound forward, has suited up for the Habs before and has been quite useful for the club in years past when the team needed players to fill in. Blais played a huge role in the Abbotsford Canucks’ Calder Cup run, racking up 19 points in 23 total games. His contract is a one-way contract, and he will most likely play a depth role for the Canadiens. He is also cheap for the team to use, with an AAV of only $775k.

Focusing on Bolduc, he is a great young addition. In his first full NHL season, Bolduc registered 36 points with the Blues, and is a young forward who brings a high offensive upside to the club. At the major-junior level, Bolduc scored career-highs of 99 and 110 career points, scoring back-to-back 50-goal seasons.

The Canadiens also signed

Subtractions

Most of the Canadiens’ subtractions I wouldn’t consider losses. They have traded away three players, dumping Heineman in the Dobson deal, swapping Primeau for a late-round pick, and swapping Logan Mailloux for Zack Bolduc, which I mentioned earlier.

The Habs also saw Savard retire, alongside Christian Dvorak, Joel Armia, and Michael Pezzetta leave in free agency. With Savard’s retirement, the Habs will undoubtedly lose some shot blocking, but Savard was a slow skater all year and often cost the Habs several times in transition. They lose some physicality in Armia and Pezzetta, but Armia was practically useless for the team this year, and they never really used Pezzetta down the stretch. These moves primarily make way for players like Demidov to secure full-time roles. Plus, I don’t think losing the three forwards makes all that much of a difference with who is coming in.

The bleu blanc est rouge also lost hometown kid Rafael Harvey-Pinard, which is a shame, but once again wasn’t going to be much of a difference maker at the NHL level moving forward for the team.

In Conclusion…

To summarize, these moves mean that the Habs are officially in or out of the playoffs. The blockbuster move to swap two first-rounders for a top-pairing defenseman, alongside trading away prospects for NHL-ready forwards, should be a clear signal.

Despite the team’s shaky regular season, they looked really strong in the playoffs against Washington, a team that out-sized them in five games back in April.

I expect more moves to be made (such as finding another skilled power forward and finding a new home for Kirby Dach). Still, I doubt they will be completed until further down the line, especially with rookie camp currently underway.