Three mistakes by divisional divers that the Canadian should avoid

The Montreal Canadiens are at a crucial point in their rebuild, and they could learn from the mistakes of their rivals on what to avoid this summer.

Between the Buffalo Sabres, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators and, up until recently, the Florida Panthers, the Atlantic Division has been the most imbalanced division in all of hockey; holding substantially long playoff droughts during the last 15 years.

Be it from catastrophic trades, poor drafting or a lack of asset management, their rebuilds were plagued by rushing the process too quickly.

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Three mistakes by divisional rivals that the Canadiens should avoid

David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports

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Three mistakes by divisional rivals that the Canadiens should avoid

Originally posted on Montreal Hockey Now

By Marco D’Amico | Last updated 5/25/24

The Montreal Canadiens are at a crucial point in their rebuild, and they could learn from the mistakes of their rivals on what to avoid this summer.

Be it from catastrophic trades, poor drafting or a lack of asset management, their rebuilds were plagued by rushing the process too quickly.

These moves left general managers, fans and even sports bookies confused, as the odds had these teams at the top of their NHL standings predictions; buying into the hype of improvement.

As the Montreal Canadiens gear up for an important here are three major errors that rivals have made that should be avoided if they wish to hit another level in the coming years.

Overspending On Free Agents

Overspending on free agents is a way of life, especially for Canadian teams like the Montreal Canadiens, but it could sometimes come to bite you in a cap crunch.

Just take the Toronto Maple Leafs as an example, signing future Hall of Fame forward Patrick Marleau to a three-year deal worth $6.25M per season in the summer of 2017. Although Marleau’s leadership was seen as extremely valuable, it came with significant risk, as the former 2nd overall pick in the 1997 NHL Draft had just turned 38 by the time he had first played a game for the Leafs.

After two underperforming years, the Maple Leafs were stuck. They needed cap space to sign another free agent in John Tavares, while keeping some flexibility to sign their emerging core of Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Mitch Marner.

The result? They had to pay an unprotected 1st-round pick to the Carolina Hurricanes to take on Marleau’s contract; proving the signing to be a blatant, unforced error by former GM Kyle Dubas.

What’s worse? Carolina used that 1st-round pick to select breakout star Seth Jarvis at 13th overall in the 2020 NHL Draft.

Imagine where the Leafs would be right now with a cost-controlled Jarvis in their lineup?

Habit of Overspending

Montreal Canadiens general manager has mentioned in the past that he’s willing to overpay for players or assets he truly covets.

In the right deal, that could be fine, but, more often than not, it can set back your rebuild quite a bit, especially if the acquired asset isn’t tied down long-term.