For years, the mantra in Montreal has been “patience.” It’s been a necessary, if sometimes bitter, pill to swallow for one of the league’s most passionate fanbases. We’ve talked endlessly about asset accumulation, draft capital, prospect pipelines, and long-term windows. The focus, drilled into us by Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton, was always on the future. But in the summer of 2025, the language changed. The whispers of “soon” became the declaration of “now.”
The 2025 NHL Draft will be remembered not for the prospects the Canadiens selected, but for the roster player they acquired. It was the definitive moment when the front office pushed their chips to the middle of the table, looked the league in the eye, and announced that the phase of simply collecting assets was over. This is no longer a slow-burn project; it’s a team constructed to win, and the pieces are finally falling into place. A top-tier prospect pool, an aggressive and intelligent draft strategy, and a blockbuster trade have coalesced to fundamentally alter the team’s trajectory. The rebuild is done. The build-out has begun.
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Draft Day Fireworks: Landing a Franchise Blue-Liner
Let’s be clear: the trade for Noah Dobson wasn’t just a good move; it was a franchise-altering statement. Before the 2025 NHL Draft kicked off, the Canadiens were sitting pretty with two first-round picks, #16 and #17 overall. The conventional wisdom, and the path of the rebuild thus far, suggested they would add two more high-end prospects to their already burgeoning system. Instead, Hughes packaged those picks along with prospect Emil Heineman and sent them to Long Island. In return, he landed the holy grail of modern team-building: a young, elite, right-shot defenseman.
This is the kind of move that accelerates a timeline by years. Dobson, immediately signed to an eight-year deal, isn’t a project or a piece for the future. He is a 25-year-old, established top-pairing defenseman who instantly solidifies the Canadiens’ blue line for the better part of a decade. He addresses the single biggest organizational need with a player entering his prime. Forget hoping one of your defensive prospects pans out; Montreal just acquired a sure thing. The move earned an “A++” grade from analysts, and for good reason. It was a masterclass in asset management—flipping a pick originally acquired for simply taking on Sean Monahan’s contract into a cornerstone player. This wasn’t a lateral move; it was a vertical leap up the NHL standings.
More Than a One-Trick Pony: Drafting with Aggressive Intent
After pulling off a blockbuster of that magnitude, a front office could be forgiven for sitting back and taking the safe route with their remaining picks. That is not what happened. The Dobson trade was the headline, but the rest of Montreal’s draft was a testament to a confident scouting staff and a management group willing to be aggressive to get their guys.
Instead of waiting for players to fall to them, the Canadiens repeatedly moved up. In the second round, they sacrificed two picks to jump up and select Alexander Zharovsky, a skilled Russian forward their scouts had a coveted first-round grade on. They did it again in the third round, trading up to nab Hayden Paupanekis, a massive WHL center with a mountain of untapped potential.
Perhaps the most telling pick was their fourth-round selection, L.J. Mooney. Widely considered a late second-round talent, Mooney’s availability at pick #113 was a gift. Described as an “upside swing for the fences,” his blazing speed gives him legitimate top-six potential.
The pattern is clear: this wasn’t about filling roster spots. It was about targeting specific players with high ceilings and having the conviction to trade assets to secure them. It demonstrated a perfect balance—leveraging high-end draft capital for immediate, elite help in Dobson, while still using their mid-round assets to take calculated, high-potential risks. They managed to improve the team for opening night while simultaneously ensuring the future remains bright.
The Foundation: An Embarrassment of Riches in the System
The only reason Hughes and Gorton could afford to part with two first-round picks is the staggering depth they’ve already built. The Canadiens entered the summer with the NHL’s second-best prospect pool, trailing only the asset-hoarding San Jose Sharks. This isn’t just a deep pool; it’s a remarkably well-balanced one.
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While some organizations are heavy on forwards or defensemen, Montreal boasts what few others can: a legitimate, blue-chip prospect at forward, on defense, and in goal.
At the top of the list is Ivan Demidov. The dynamic Russian forward isn’t just another prospect; he’s expected to be a true difference-maker in the NHL as early as this fall. He brings the elite, game-breaking skill that the lineup has craved. He’s the offensive crown jewel.
Patrolling the blue line of the future is David Reinbacher. While the focus now shifts to Dobson, Reinbacher remains a vital piece of the long-term defensive puzzle, a steady, intelligent defenseman with top-pairing potential.
And then there’s the man in the crease, Jacob Fowler. His development has been nothing short of meteoric. In just one year, he has rocketed up the goalie prospect rankings, now sitting as the second-best NHL-affiliated netminder in the world. Coming off a dominant NCAA career, Fowler’s positional soundness and mental fortitude are already drawing rave reviews. He isn’t just a future starter; he looks like the real deal. Behind him, another prospect, Jakub Dobeš, is slated to back up Samuel Montembeault in the NHL this season, providing further evidence of the organization’s incredible goaltending depth. This embarrassment of riches allowed Montreal to be bold, knowing their future was already secure.
From Pretender to Contender? Where the Habs Stand Now
So, what does this all mean for the upcoming season? The mid-offseason power rankings place the Canadiens at 17th overall—squarely in the middle of the pack. On the surface, that might seem underwhelming. But context is everything.
That ranking comes after a season in which a young, developing Canadiens team “massively overachieved” simply by making the playoffs. They were playing with house money and showed they could hang with the league’s best on any given night. Now, take that same energetic, confident group and inject two massive talents: Noah Dobson, arguably a top-15 defenseman, and Ivan Demidov, a Calder Trophy candidate.
Suddenly, 17th looks less like a fair assessment and more like a low-ball estimate. The team that surprised everyone last year is now demonstrably, significantly better. The holes are being filled not with stop-gaps, but with long-term solutions.
Some traditionalists might point to established “Rebuild Roadmaps,” which preach a decade of patience and hoarding picks for years on end. But the Canadiens are proving there isn’t just one path to the top. They put in the hard work, built the foundation through the draft for several years, and when the time was right, they cashed in their chips for a premium asset. It’s a hybrid model, one that respects the need for patience but also recognizes the moment to strike.
The era of moral victories in Montreal is over. The focus is no longer on draft lottery odds or prospect rankings. It’s on playoff positioning. The front office has signaled with its actions that the goal is no longer to be good someday; the goal is to be good now. The question for fans is no longer when the Canadiens will be competitive again. The question is how competitive they can be, starting this October.
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