So ... status thoughts on the eliminated Eastern teams:
Montreal ...
They're in really good shape, presuming that Montembeault and Dobes remain on their current trajectories in net. Obviously that ain't a given, but still. The Canadiens have a good young group, some veteran grit and their one terrible contract (Laine) is offset by the last remaining year of Carey Price's LTIR. There's more talent to come from their development pipeline, and they have a bunch of picks in this year's draft. They don't have a ton of cap space this summer, or else I'd say they're poised to make some deals with prospects and picks. Instead, they can nibble around the edges of the roster, concentrate on improving that defense group, improve organically and take a bigger swing in the summer 2026
Tampa ...
Cap Hell is still Cap Hell if it's planned. They've got $8 million in space and are mortally locked in to their top 7 forwards, their top 4 D and their goaltender for what seems like eternity. There's almost no way to actually get better from this position and they won't have a first round pick in the draft until 2028. The upside is that they don't have a ton of bad contracts, as most of that money is being spent on guys who produce in their assigned roles. The issue is that they'll once again have to figure out how to flesh out half a roster on peanuts without any cheap ELC contracts to help
New Jersey ...
There's a lot to like with their roster when it's fully healthy but that has proven to be a repeating concern. The Devils' bet on Markstrom paid off, but a lot of their prospects either haven't found their offense or double up more proven veterans. And with only moderate Cap space ($12 mil) this summer, they may need to package some fairly promising kids to improve their rickety depth. There's no first rounder in this draft, but they have 2 seconds. This might be a year where they look to make their pipeline pay off in trade for bottom 6 forwards who can actually play. And if I was them, I'd be hatching a way to get either Palat or Meier off the books. Those are decent players being paid star wages. You can get by with one of those, but two of them turns into a handicap pretty quickly. Of course, they both have no movement clauses, as does Hamilton ... who is another guy you'd ideally think about moving since they have a raft of younger, cheaper puck movers. Nah, I figure they package up prospects for help up front and maybe free poor Nemec from an organization that really never seemed to understand or appreciate his tool kit.
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