not a terrible team but he spent that cap without having a superstar.

Which is how the team is built . No top heavy contract but 4 competitive lines

I don't recall any of the final 8 or so playoff teams not having at least 1-2 stars...Suzuki could certainly take a big leap up this year, but there's no real guarantee.

Has the team done enough to make up the 10 or so points in the standings to actually make the playoffs? Given that they're likely competing with NYR, Car, FLA, Columbus, NYI, PIT, and *maybe* Buffalo for one of two wildcard spots, I'm not super confident that there's been enough done to make that jump.

Ok, Price and Weber. If you don't consider these players "stars" then they also have Suzuki and Kotkaniemi on the rise as well as players like Romanov and Caufield coming.

Like Weber was literally on the all star team and finished 15th in Norris voting. We all seen what Price can do in the playoff when healthy / rested, the team just got a great backup goalie to make him better.

What exactly does the term "star" even mean, its subjective? Did Pittsburgh and Philly have stars? Well if so Suzuki was able to play at their level in playoffs, if not better.

Sure, Price is a star. Weber? Sure, maybe...

As for comparing Pittsburgh and Philly? They were both legitimately in playoff positions. Montreal was 10 points back. Everyone can be super happy about beating someone in a 5 game series after 5 months off, but if you really want to bank on that, there's a good chance that you'll end up being disappointed.

As for prospects, I really like Suzuki, and think he could make a jump this season. As for KK, Romanov and Caufield-They've all got a long way to go.

Again, there's certainly a decent future for the Habs, but every team in the league has young guys like KK, Romanov, and Caufield.

Not saying they are better than Pittsburgh or Philly, just saying that Suzuki was playing like a "star" in those series, outplayed Crosby, Malkin, Giroux, etc.

Not every team in the league has someone who made the NHL as a center at 18 years old, Kotkaniemi had better rookie seasons than Dach, Hughes, etc... he had a down year and bounced back in playoffs, so the potential has always been there.

Not every team has the guy who broke Phil Kessel's goal scoring record with USNDT or Ovechkins U18 IIHF tournament goal scoring record like Caufield did. He was also better than Turcotte with Wisconsin, and Turcotte was a 5th overall pick.

Not every team has a player who was WJC top defenseman and made the 1st all star team in back to back years.

I'm not trying to say that all of these guys are going to be stars, I'm just saying they have some real potential there and now they've insulated everyone with good wingers, good size (up front and on defense) and there cap situation still has them set up to resign UFA's and pay the young guys.

@Lenny7

I didn't mention this guy, not your typical "star" but the guy that literally sets the scale for expected goals and shots at 5 on 5 and is in the top 2% for GF while having positive defensive numbers should probably be considered a star too haha

https://twitter.com/EvolvingHockey/status/1316509459481604100?s=19

I spent yesterday defending Gally! Love him! As much as Habs fans probably hate the comparison, he's essentially Marchand-lite. I'm glad he got paid.