Here are some of the biggest organizational needs they could be looking to fill leading up to the 2023 NHL Draft:<\/p>\n
Elite Forward<\/p>\n
The Montreal Canadiens only had three 20-goal scorers in their lineup during the 2022-2023 season, and only one point-per-game player over 25 years.<\/p>\n
Although they do have two of the more exciting young forwards in the league in Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki, they need more top-end talent to create a winner up front.<\/p>\n
Nick Suzuki has shown he could support Caufield\u2019s scoring ability with a 26-goal campaign, but a top-end goal-scoring forward to help shoulder the goal-scoring load amid an organization littered with playmakers would be very intriguing.<\/p>\n
The Canadiens tried their hand at finding a solution to this problem when they acquired Denis Gurianov<\/a>, but he wasn\u2019t able to hit his full stride with the Canadiens.<\/p>\n By acknowledging the need for a scoring forward, it\u2019s very likely the Canadiens look to fill the need in a more sustainable way, and the 2023 NHL Draft would be a perfect opportunity for that.<\/p>\n With the top of the draft littered with high-end forwards, the Canadiens could take a big step forward by adding one of them to their prospect pool.<\/p>\n Top-Pair Right Defenceman<\/p>\n The Montreal Canadiens have an incredible amount of depth on defence; on their roster and in the pipe.<\/p>\n The only issue is that a grand majority of those defencemen are left-handed and don\u2019t have the top-end potential needed to play on their offside for 25+ minutes a game.<\/p>\n The Canadiens are currently betting on Justin Barron and Logan Mailloux eventually turning into reliable top-four defencemen, but, to really ensure that the Canadiens will have one of the better defence corps in the league, they\u2019ll need someone above them to lead the charge.<\/p>\n It will be a process at the moment, as these kinds of players aren\u2019t abundant in the NHL; they need to be drafted in most cases.<\/p>\n Whether it be in this upcoming 2023 NHL Draft<\/a> or the defence-heavy 2024 NHL Draft<\/a>, you can bet the Canadiens will be looking to take some home run swings at top-end right-handed defencemen by way of draft or trade.<\/p>\n Top-Six Centre<\/p>\n With Nick Suzuki and Kirby Dach, the Canadiens are set down the middle for many years to come; at least on paper.<\/p>\n However, as we\u2019re seeing in the playoffs at the moment, top-end depth at the centre position is worth its weight in gold, especially when injuries hit.<\/p>\n Having another true top-six centre on the team would not only give head coach Martin St-Louis significant options for line combinations, but it can also allow him to mix and match his strategy to his opponents.<\/p>\n With another bona fide top-six centre, the Canadiens could decide to keep Dach, Suzuki and Caufield together long-term, relying on this new centre to hold down the second line with some emerging youngsters to fill the void.<\/p>\n The Canadiens have the depth at centre with the likes of Owen Beck, Riley Kidney and Oliver Kapanen; but they need one more elite piece down the middle to truly ensure the long-term quality of their pipeline down the middle.<\/p>\n Starting Goaltender<\/p>\n
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