Inside look at Montreal Canadiens

NHL.com is providing in-depth roster, prospect and fantasy analysis for each of its 32 teams from Aug. 1-Sept. 1. Today, the Montreal Canadiens.

The Montreal Canadiens watched the offseason roster comings and goings across the NHL and felt what they already have in place is good enough to get them another step closer to where they want to go.

"I think we have a very good core group of players in Montreal that are young," general manager Kent Hughes said. "We won't do a dumb trade or a dumb move that might appease the passionate fanbase on a short-term basis and a year later it's, 'What the hell did they get us into?' We hope that we have their patience to trust that we're going to continue to push this thing forward. We're not trying to save money. We are not trying to do anything other than make the right next move."

That's why the Canadiens' two biggest moves of the offseason were solidifying that core group by signing forward Ivan Demidov and goalie Jakub Dobes to long-term contracts.

Demidov led rookies last season with 62 points (19 goals, 43 assists) in 82 games, and the 20-year-old was second to New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer in voting for the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year. He also had nine points (three goals, six assists) in 19 games during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Then on July 1, the first day he was eligible, Demidov signed an eight-year, $73.2 million contract (average annual value of $9.15 million) that begins next season.

"I'm happy to be here," Demidov said the day he signed. "I can't wait to play more games for this jersey. ... It was easy because they wanted me to be here, I wanted to stay for the long term here and we just signed it so quickly."

Dobes was equally excited to sign a three-year, $16.05 million contract ($5.35 million AAV) on July 2 that also begins next season.

The 25-year-old began last season as the backup to Sam Montembeault but won his first six starts and took the No. 1 job. He went 29-10-4 with a 2.78 goals-against average and .901 save percentage in 43 games (42 starts), the most wins by a Canadiens rookie goalie since Ken Dryden (39) in 1971-72. Dobes also had a .908 save percentage while starting all 19 playoff games to help the Canadiens reach the third round for the first time since 2021.

"It's exciting," Dobes said. "I feel like we have a good group. End of the day I feel like everyone wants to win, which is really important to get the deal done and kept the guys together. I feel like everything was really smooth with all of us. I'm excited everyone is on the same page, and we want to do what's best for us and the group. 

"I'm excited. I feel like we have a lot of potential in the next couple years to get something exciting done. We just, hopefully, will be better than last year. I'm really proud of the guys, everyone staying here and keeping the same team together pretty much."

Demidov and Dobes are the latest to commit long term to the Canadiens, joining forwards Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky, and defensemen Lane Hutson, Noah Dobson and Kaiden Guhle, to be under contract through at least the 2029-30 season.

The opportunity to be part of that core is why Demidov signed so quickly.

"Just take a look at our team," he said. "We have a good core, and everyone is similar age and everyone wants to win the Cup. Everyone is hungry."

That's a sign of the environment that's taken root since Hughes and president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton were hired during the 2021-22 season.

"It's way more credit to our players and to the culture that we have here," Hughes said. "When you create a place where guys want to work hard to get better and to accomplish a common goal, I don't think there's anything ... I used to say to my kids all the time, if you go have a record-breaking year scoring goals in college, it's not like 20 years from now everyone's coming back to celebrate the 40-goal season you had. They come back to celebrate something you accomplished together.

"And the more years that I spend talking to players, the thing that amazes me is once they had a little taste of success, they chased it forever. The earlier the group figures that out, the more committed they are to doing that. That's what's going on here more than anything."

The hope this season is that core group can build on the lessons learned during its deep playoff run, which included seven-game series wins against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Buffalo Sabres, followed by a five-game loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Eastern Conference Final.

"Nobody's really satisfied with anything that happened this year," Caufield said after the conference final. "Just back to work. Guys learned a lot this year but there's a long way to go. ... What's the next step? How do we improve in all aspects of our game? The better the team gets the more individual success comes with that. Just focused on one day at a time. Just think everybody can be better and everybody is excited for next year."