pretty expensive 4th line.

not enough money for domi. 7-8millions avv will be good

Have you seen the east? This team is still not a contender unless their young players have exceptional growth

Caufield is playing in college next season at UW with Turcotte.

I'll disagree. They finished two points out of the playoffs. Two points behind Columbus and just four points behind the Leafs, who are two teams that can have "shrinkage"....can slip .
Montreal, Philly, Florida haven't really lost anything from last year and maybe have gained NHLers. Any of those three could make the playoffs next year.

I’m not denying that Habs can make the playoffs. I’m saying they won’t compete for the cup. There’s only a few teams in each conference that are serious contenders. Look at Carolina. Despite their impressive run to the ECF; they were still smoked by Boston. They had 2 great rounds, but their colours showed by the third round. They weren’t true contenders

Contender for....... Alex lafreniere?

I'll agree with that. Though the silliness of the lottery bound Blues in January to champs in June shakes my faith on definition of "contender"

Coming out of last offseason though, a lot of people had them as a dark horse to win the cup (I know I did). They got off to a horrific start but found great goaltending in Binnington and come playoffs they finally started to Gel together.