**To be Edited throughout***

I'm wondering what the Canadiens will look like in 3 seasons. 2025-26. Here imo are the players locked in to specific positions. Dach here can either be 1RW or 2C, in this case it's the former:

Caufield- Suzuki - Dach: Nothing to explain here.
Slafkovsky - ??? - Mesar. We don't have anyone really eligible for 2nd line position.
Farrell - Beck - Roy. All should be ready for 3rd line roles.
Tuch - Kapanen - Gallagher. Tuch is the perfect 4th line guy, same for Kapanen, and Gally js unmovable, and we need a vet presence anyway.

Now, what happened to all the other forwards?
Monohan - Traded at 2023 TDL. Anderson - Traded in 2023 Offseason. Drouin - Sign elsewhere in 2023 UFA. Hoffman - Gets traded at 2024 TDL. Dvorak - Traded at 2025 TDL. Evans - gets traded in 2024 TDL. Dadonov - walks in 2023 offseason. Joel Armia - Walks in 2025 Offseason.

Defense:
??? - ????. Habs have a bunch of great 2nd pair guys, but no true #1 guys. That's why there is question marks.
Guhle - Harris. Nothing much to say , perfect 2nd pairing guys.
Hutson - Barron. Worthy of 2nd pair. Great guys.

Here's what I posted a couple of days ago in a ACGM on a related topic. The Stanley Cup Checklist I was referring to was published by the Athletic back in March.

https://theathletic.com/3186979/2022/03/16/stanley-cup-contender-checklist-how-does-each-playoff-team-stack-up/
https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/3764415

"As of now, here's what the Stanley Cup checklist looks like (<23yo established players only):
Elite first-line center that’s among the very best players in the world: N/A
Elite first-line winger to support the elite center: N/A
Top-line center to play behind the elite center: Suzuki
Two other top-line wingers on each of the top two lines: Caufield, Dach
Two more top-six forwards for depth in the middle six: Slafkovsky, N/A
Elite No. 1 defenseman: N/A
A second No. 1 defenseman to play behind him: Guhle
A top-pairing defenseman to help anchor a strong second pair with the No. 2: Harris
Another top-pairing caliber defender to crush soft minutes on the third pair: Xhekaj
A top-10 caliber starting goaltender: N/A

Obviously, this picture is subjective and could look a lot different a year from now. The point is: even if the Habs luck out at the draft or with the development of their players/prospects, they'll still be nowhere near contender status - there's just too many important holes to fill. Plus, other teams are way ahead of the curve in terms of roster construction - NJD, BUF and DAL all fare better, and you could probably add MIN and OTT to this list.

So hang on Habs fans, relax and enjoy the losses."

Now, I could've added a couple of nuances to this analysis:
1. Most SC contenders have holes in their lineup, but perennial contenders don't - think about COL in 2022, TBL in 2021, PIT in 2009, DET in 2008, etc.
2. Luck can do lots of good things to middling teams, like it did for the 2020-21 Habs, but I'm not interested in riding the probabilities; I wan't my favorite team to be among the league's very best for many consecutive years.

My point is, there's no point in predicting the future roster around this group of players, it's not strong enough, well it is to me anyway. It's missing 4 foundational pieces: an elite C, and elite winger, and elite D and a top-10 goalie. To fill these holes by 2025, GMKH would have to draft/develop 4 star-level players in a 2.5 years span. How is that likely to happen?