This article is being written on the morning of Game 7 between the Montreal Canadiens and the Buffalo Sabres. So, we don’t yet know whether the Canadiens 2025-26 season will end in the second round, or whether they’ll be on to the Eastern Conference Finals. But we don’t really need to know to deem the current Montreal rebuild a smashing success.

The Canadiens were Stanley Cup Finalists back in 2021, in what ended up being an unexpected, Cinderella-esque run. Since that date, they’ve undergone a massive restructuring and reinvention that has made it possible for them to have a much longer run of contention starting this year, and moving forward into several more.

How did the Canadiens pull it off? And what lessons might their tale hold for the Vancouver Canucks, who have just embarked on their own rebuilding odyssey? Let’s find out, year-by-year.

The team that went to the Cup Finals in 2021 is almost unrecognizable from the Montreal Canadiens today. There are four individuals on the current roster who played in that 2021 playoff run, and they are Nick Suzuki (a sophomore at the time), Cole Caufield (still technically a rookie into the next season), Jake Evans (another sophomore), the then-recently-acquired Josh Anderson, and Brendan Gallagher. That makes Anderson and Gallagher the only ‘surviving’ veterans from that season, unless one counts Philip Danualt, who left to Los Angeles as a free agent after that season, only to be traded back to Montreal in 2025.

The otherwise total housecleaning is part of the story of how the rebuild began, and it wasn’t necessarily by their choice, at least initially. Their two leading veterans, captain Shea Weber and goaltender Carey Price, saw their careers more-or-less ended by the wear-and-tear of 2020-21 (and previous seasons, of course). Weber would never play again, and would have his contract traded to Vegas by 2022. Price, meanwhile, would play just five more NHL games before entering into an LTIRetirement of his own.

These two huge losses took the choice of ‘running it back’ away from the Canadiens, which was almost a blessing in disguise. The rebuild would begin in earnest partway through the next season.

But before we get to that, we should discuss the foundational pieces already in place at this time, and how the Canadiens got them on hand.

Suzuki was their earliest core piece acquired, back in September of 2018. At the time, he’d completed a fine Draft+1 campaign after being selected at 13^th overall by the Vegas Golden Knights with their second-ever draft pick.

Montreal had made the choice to trade their captain, Max Pacioretty, heading into the final year of his contract after having missed the playoffs in 2017-18. This was an astute, forward-thinking move that would pay off for more than a decade to come in the form of Suzuki, who would eventually take over as captain himself. Never mind the fact that the Habs got Tomas Tatar and a second-round pick on top of the return.

What’s most important to note is that the Canadiens never stopped making draft picks, and especially first-round selections, even as they ramped up for this 2020-21 run. They picked Caufield at 15^th overall in 2019, along with Jayden Struble in the second round. They picked Kaiden Guhle at 16^th overall in 2020, along with Jakub Dobes in the fifth round. And following the 2021 run, they picked Logan Mailloux at 31^st overall (later to be swapped for Zach Bolduc) and Oliver Kapanen in the second round.

The Canadiens had a fine stable of prospects and young players on hand as they set out on their somewhat-unplanned rebuild after this season, but it’s worth pointing out that none of them came from particularly high in the draft. These were the sort of picks (and trades) that most teams have the opportunity to make on a yearly basis, and what the Habs did, more than anything, was hang on to them and develop them.

This is the year that the Montreal rebuild truly began, though not right away. They entered the 2021-22 campaign with some delusions of repeating their trip to the Cup Finals, as evidenced by a September trade in which they sent out a conditional 2022 first rounder in exchange for Christian Dvorak.

Thankfully, Jesperi Kotkaniemi saved them from utter disaster. He signed an offer sheet with Carolina in the summer of 2021, bringing back a first as compensation when Montreal did not match, and the Habs were able to fulfill the conditions of the trade with this pick (27^th overall) as opposed to their own (which ended up at first overall).

Beyond that questionable move, the Canadiens did bring in some veteran free agents in July 2021, but no one on too long a contract, including Mike Hoffman (three years) and David Savard (four years). They’d eventually be able to flip them both for a profit. At the same time, they let a number of their oldest Cup Finalists move on to other opportunities, including Danault, Tatar, and Corey Perry.

The 2021 offseason also saw the Canadiens make two quiet moves with big dividends in plucking Sam Montembeault off waivers from Florida and in signing undrafted free agent  and then-Costco-employee Arber Xhekaj to an entry-level contract.

And then the 2021-22 Canadiens proceeded to tank, hard. By the end of November, they were at the bottom of the standings, where they would remain, which led to the firing of GM Marc Bergevin. He would be replaced by former agent Kent Hughes in January, 2022. Shortly after that, Hughes fired coach Dominique Ducharme and replaced him with Martin St. Louis. At that point, Montreal more-or-less committed to a rebuild.

Then the trades began.

Montreal flipped last year’s leading scorer, Tyler Toffoli, to the Calgary Flames for Emil Heineman (later part of the Noah Dobson trade), Tyler Pitlick, a fifth-rounder, and a conditional first in 2022. This pick ended up at 26^th overall, and was somewhat wasted on Filip Mesar, but it at least made up for the loss of a first in the trade for Dvorak.

Then Montreal landed a 2023 first, and some extras, in exchange for pending UFA Ben Chiarot. This pick would end up at 31^st overall when the Panthers made the Stanley Cup Finals, but by that point Montreal had already exchanged it for Alex Newhook.

They also flipped Artturi Lehkonen and Brett Kulak for a second-round pick and prospect packages at the 2022 Trade Deadline. It was that Kulak trade that proved the real coup. With the Oilers’ former 62^nd overall selection, the Canadiens would draft Lane Huston, their future 1D.

But before they could do that, the Canadiens would also win the 2022 Draft Lottery, securing the first overall selection and the right to draft Juraj Slafkovsky.

The Canadiens entered the 2022 offseason now dedicated to a rebuild, and it showed. They sent 23-year-old defender Alexander Romanov, still young but not quite a fit for the new direction of the franchise, to the New York Islanders for a first-round pick in July. They then immediately flipped that first to Chicago for the 21-year-old Kirby Dach, who had been selected at third overall in 2019 but had his early career hampered by injury.

They made their blueline slightly younger by trading the unhappy Jeffy Petry (and Ryan Poehling, who would later blossom) to Pittsburgh for Mike Matheson and a fourth.

But their biggest move would be in trading future considerations to the Calgary Flames in exchange for Sean Monahan, plus a conditional first as compensation for taking on Monahan’s contract.

The first would wind up in 2025, but by then the Canadiens had flipped it for Dobson. By then, the Canadiens would also have flipped Monahan to Columbus for an additional first, making this one of the most profitable cap dump sequences in NHL history.

One other notable decision made in the 2022-23 season was naming Suzuki captain at the start of the year, which would prove a wise choice.

Besides that, it was a second year of losing, and of being at the bottom of the standings.

The 2023 Draft was not nearly as impactful as was the 2022, as the Canadiens’ top pick, David Reinbacher at fifth overall, has yet to make much of an impact at the NHL level. They did pick up backup goaltender Jacob Fowler at 69^th overall, however, and also completed that aforementioned transaction of one of their excess firsts to Colorado in exchange for Newhook.

The 2023-24 season would be the third consecutive season at the bottom of the standings for the Montreal Canadiens. It would also be their last, and a sort of final stage for their rebuild before ramping back up toward playoff contention.

No new free agents of note were brought in for the 2023 offseason. A few more veteran-dumping trades occurred, but of a more minor variety. Joel Edmundson went to Washington for a third and a seventh. Mike Hoffman and Rem Pitlick went to Pittsburgh for a second, Casey DeSmith, and the return of Petry, who was subsequently flipped to Detroit for a minor leaguer and a fourth. DeSmith himself was then flipped to the Vancouver Canucks for a third-round pick and Tanner Pearson.

But the big trade was saved for closer to the 2024 Trade Deadline, and that one saw a rehabilitated Monahan dealt to Columbus for a 2024 first-round pick.

Beyond that, it was another year of losing, but it should be noted that it was also an important year of personal, individual growth. Suzuki broke out to a then-career-high 77 points. Caufield scored 28 goals. Slafkovsky scored 50 points as a sophomore. Newhook added 34 in 55 games. Hutson signed his ELC at the tail-end of the regular season, and impressed greatly in his debut.

Then, the 2024 Draft really tied a bow on the whole thing. The Canadiens grabbed the dropping Ivan Demidov at fifth overall with their own pick, and then nabbed top prospect Michael Hage at 21^st overall through trading up the pick they got back for Monahan.

Shortly after the draft, the Canadiens picked up yet another bonus second-rounder, this time for taking on Patrik Laine’s contract, but at this point, they were ready to start building toward contention.

The 2024-25 campaign was more about letting the rebuild coalesce then doing anything in particular to speed it along. The Canadiens once again avoided free agency, and any major offseason or in-season trading, save for a sharp December transaction that brought in Alexandre Carrier in exchange for Justin Barron.

Instead, the Habs kept space open for their young stars to take the next step, and take the next step they did. Suzuki broke out further to 89 points, Caufield scored 37 goals, and Hutson set rookie scoring records with 66 points. Dobes dazzled in his first few NHL starts. Folks like Xhekaj, Guhle, and Struble started to play more minutes, defining a hard-nosed identity on the blueline.

The Canadiens returned to the playoffs for the first time in three seasons, bowing out to the Washington Capitals in five games. But they picked up some valuable lessons along the ride, and were well on their way toward another step forward in 2025-26.

Enough so, that the Canadiens could skip out on their next two first round draft picks. Slotted in at 16^th (via Calgary and the original Monahan trade) and 17^th overall, Montreal instead sent those picks to the New York Islanders, along with Heineman, in exchange for Dobson. Montreal subsequently signed Dobson to an eight-year extension.

Aside from that, the Canadiens made one other notable transaction, flipping Mailloux to St. Louis in exchange for Bolduc.

And that was really all they needed to take that next step. Most of Montreal’s improvement this season came from within, with Suzuki experiencing a third consecutive breakout to 101 points, Caufield exploding into 51 goals, Hutson expanding on his rookie numbers, and Slafkovsky hitting 30 goals.

Demidov scored 62 points as a rookie, Kapanen added 37 of his own, and Dobes fully took over as starting goaltender.

With that, the Habs were more-or-less fully rebuilt, and ready to take the Buffalo Sabres to the brink of Round Two of the Stanley Cup Playoffs…and perhaps beyond.

There’s a lot to talk about here as it pertains to the Canucks, but as this is already an incredibly lengthy piece, we’ll keep it as brief as possible.

The fact that the Canadiens’ rebuild started out with some key pieces in place – though none from the top of the draft – bodes well for the Canucks’ current configuration. Assets like Zeev Buium, Tom Willander, Braeden Cootes, and the like, correspond well enough to the prospect profiles of folks like Suzuki, Caufield, and Guhle at the start of the Canadiens’ build. Obviously, the key thing was continuing to give those players opportunity to develop, supplementing them with other, younger players, and, in all honesty, a heaping dose of luck. The Canucks need to hang on to their current core, continue to push them into positions of prominence, and hope they all take some developmental leaps forward in the years to come.

The luck factor here cannot be ignored, not with lottery wins and picks like Hutson even being available at 66th overall, but then, that almost goes without saying. If the Canucks aren’t at least a little fortunate in the course of their own rebuild, it probably won’t be successful. The Canadiens have been fortunate more than a few times over.

Another lesson to take away here is a slash-and-burn strategy with existing veterans. The Habs kept very little around from that 2020-21 roster. Really, it was just Gallagher and Anderson as the designated ‘culture carriers,’ in addition to continuing to hand more and more of the team identity over to the new core. Meanwhile, everyone else was shelled out for picks and prospects on a year-by-year basis. There’s a bit of red meat here for the ‘trade everyone over 25’ crowd, but something else to focus on is the consistent bent toward draft picks and prospects as the returns.

That leads directly into another lesson, which is to draft as often as is possible. Montreal got a boost to their rebuild by having hung on to a number of their first rounders in previous years, despite attempts to make the playoffs. Then, once the rebuild started, they really began to stockpile picks via those aforementioned veteran trades.

Too much attention will be paid to the picks that the Habs absolutely nailed, like Demidov and Hutson. But what won’t be mentioned nearly as much is all the misses along the way. Between 2020 and 2025, the Canadiens made seven first round selections and seven second round selections. That list includes plenty of lackluster picks, like Jan Mysak (48^th in 2020), Filip Mesar (26^th in 2022), and even Reinbacher (5^th in 2023). But drafting always requires a degree of luck, and Montreal effectively increased their odds by acquiring a greater quantity of draft picks. Without all the misses, they probably don’t make as many hits.

Beyond all that, it’s an overall lesson of patience – the same kind that the Sedins and Ryan Johnson are already preaching in Vancouver. At no point here did the Canadiens take any steps to accelerate the rebuild. They picked out their coach early on, identified their new core, and then embraced a few years of tank-age, adding the true centrepieces of the rebuild (Slafkovsky, Hutson, and Demidov) in the process. Even when players like Suzuki and Caufield began to break out, GM Hughes continued to patiently add long-term pieces to the mix.

No high-priced free agents,  and no accelerationist trades, unless one counts the Dobson deal. But even that came after the Canadiens had already returned to the playoffs, came through dealing off excess picks they had already acquired, and involved the acquisition of a 25-year-old who plays a premium position.

The Montreal rebuild may have occurred over the span of only four seasons. But it was still a slow and especially steady process, and that seems to have made all the difference.