I think at this point the best chance is for KK, Suzuki, and Caufield to develop to be the stars the team needs

Unlikely they’ll be “stars”

Wouldn’t say unlikely on caufield

Cole Caufield's college career has likely come to an end and it ends in style! He put together an absolute monster sophomore year (30 goals, 52 points in 31 games). His star potential has shot way up and he appears ready to make an impact with the Habs in the very near future. pic.twitter.com/6Ns3Us3OK8

— Byron Bader (@ByronMBader) March 26, 2021

MSL is a HOFer. Exactly why I say caufield is overrated lmfao. He’ll likely be a mike hoffman type player

all this is saying is that Caufields point production from his Draft year to his D+2 is similar to St.louis. That doesn't mean that he's going to have the same overall impact as st Louis, but its more likely than not that Caufield is at least a 35-40 G 60-70 pt player.

Hoffman has never been able to drive play offensively and hes awful defensively - Caufield is a more well rounded player and can actually drive play himself.

I agree with him being a 30-40 goals 60-70 point player. That’s a very good player, but I wouldn’t call it “star status”, and I certainly wouldn’t compare him to MSL.

Caufield also isn’t great defensively either and floats a lot, similar to hoffman. Caufield may put up more even strength points, but I see some similarities in their game

Yeah, it's tough for any team to be suddenly Cup contenders. Think Montreal cap issue especially in the future won't really allow them to land a star player so they better create stars from within. o.
Drouin...seems like an unloveable 5.5m cap hit, unless similar cap comes back in a trade.

If Caufield puts up 35 goals 70 points and is at least average defensively, that's a star player. The issue with Hoffman is his hockey IQ which is why hes not able to drive play offensively and hes awful defensively. It's not that Hoffman is lazy, he literally doesn't have what it takes to be good defensively. Caufield has great hockey sense and has shown he can be effective without the puck, he just needs to be more consistent. The only similarities with Hoffman + Caufield are their shots.

I agree but if they can all get to the 70 points range and Caufield can do 35 goal then that would be enough

You clearly haven't watched the habs play

Doubt they all do. KK looks like a fringe 2C / 3C at the moment, Suzuki is likely a fringe 1C / good 2C. Sorta like a Plekanec type player

I have been, They’re just not that good lol. Still hope they beat leafs though.

Resigning Armia would help. Lehkonen would need to be traded away eventually though.

I was debating on not qualifying Lehk, then sign him to like 1.5 million similar to Schultz on Pit back in 2016