Quoting: ForsbergForVezina
Montreal is so weird tbh. They win all their trades, are conservative spenders and do well at the draft table and still manage to have no direction or success.
And before anyone gets mad about that, the Hawks have been pretty much the same way over the past couple years, only last offseason they actually tried to get better after missing the playoffs
So, looking at the last 6 years:
14-15: Carried by Price, lose to TBL in the 2nd Round
15-16: Price goes out, the season is over
16-17: Ok team, lose to NYR in the 1st round
17-18: Our C is horrible, along with injuries, the season is a disaster
18-19: Soft re-tool in the offseason, adding more youth, the team direction takes shape, team barely misses the playoffs
19-20: Good signs from the young player. This team has a bright future, all we need to be patient for a few years. Injuries tear the season apart.
I’d say that after the 17-18 season, the current direction of this team was realised. Bergevin had managed to build a good team that had been in the playoffs, that relied on Carey Price. But now that team was struggling a bit, so Bergevin started to get some young players to fill the gaping hole at C. Ever since then, the habs have been filling out their prospect pool, while having completely fixed the decades long need for C.
They may not have had a real direction 3 years ago, other than just staying competitive. But now I’d say that they do have a direction, it’s just not super obvious to some people yet.