The Connor McDavid-to-Montreal dream just got a massive boost
Connor McDavid is the name lighting up Montreal this week, and Kent Hughes is the executive who has to decide what's noise and what's real.
It started Monday with an agent's whisper to Renaud Lavoie, and by Tuesday morning the McDavid-to-Montreal machine was running at full speed.
An agent told Renaud Lavoie a few months ago that Montreal should be looking more toward Connor McDavid than Sidney Crosby."
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The Canadiens finished the regular season 48-24-10, good for 106 points and sixth overall. The roster is no longer rebuilding. It's knocking.
Then came the gut punch in Round 1. Montreal lost to Carolina, capped by a 6-1 beating on the road. Loose pucks, broken coverage, a locker room left searching.
So the appetite for a swing this summer is real. And the swing fans want is the biggest name in hockey.
McDavid put up 48 goals and 90 assists for 138 points in 82 games this season. The Oilers still finished 41-30-11, a fourteenth-place finish overall.
Why Edmonton's first-round exit changes the math
Then Anaheim happened. Edmonton dropped the series in five, and McDavid was a -8 with only six points in six playoff games.
That's the number that should keep Stan Bowman up at night. The best player on the planet, swallowed by the Ducks. In Round 1.
Nick Suzuki, by comparison, posted 29 goals and 72 assists for 101 points this season. He's the centerpiece. He's also reportedly the guy who pitched McDavid at the Olympics.
Now picture a top six with Suzuki, McDavid, and 20-year-old Ivan Demidov, who finished his rookie year with 62 points. That's the daydream lighting up Quebec radio right now.
Is it realistic in June 2026? Probably not. McDavid hasn't even started his new two-year deal. But the door isn't sealed shut either.
Hughes will work the phones this summer. He always does. He needs another center, and the cap room is there with McDavid carrying a $12.5 million hit.
The smart bet is patience. Edmonton tries again. McDavid honors the deal. The Canadiens add a different center and keep building.
But if Edmonton stumbles out of the gate next October, the whisper from September becomes a roar by Christmas.
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![Feb 20, 2025; Boston, MA, USA; [Imagn Images direct customers only] Team Canada forward Sydney Crosby (87) lifts the trophy after defeating the United States during the 4 Nations Face-Off ice hockey championship game at TD Garden.](https://i.marqueur.com/habsetlnh/medium/669393.webp "Feb 20, 2025; Boston, MA, USA; [Imagn Images direct customers only] Team Canada forward Sydney Crosby (87) lifts the trophy after defeating the United States during the 4 Nations Face-Off ice hockey championship game at TD Garden.")
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JUNE 2, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Nikolaj Ehlers | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Jalen Chatfield | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Shea Theodore | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brayden McNabb | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jaccob Slavin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Smith | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | - | - | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | - | - | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | - | - | |
| Jackson Blake | - | - | - | |
| William Carrier | - | - | - | |
| Dylan Coghlan | - | - | - | |
| Pavel Dorofeyev | - | - | - | |
| Nic Dowd | - | - | - | |
| Jack Eichel | - | - | - | |
| Shayne Gostisbehere | - | - | - | |
| Taylor Hall | - | - | - | |
| Noah Hanifin | - | - | - | |
| Carter Hart | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||