Big Fish promised, sardines delivered

No one was surprised when at the 2025 trade deadline, Kent Hughes decided to stand pat. The Canadiens were not expected to be a playoff team at the start of the season. Heck, they were hanging on for dear life at the trade deadline.

It was generally well received by the fan base when the deadline passed, others bolstered their lineups, and the Habs' management decided to keep the team intact. Keeping our UFAs, not dealing our veterans was sold as "adding" and showing "commitment" to the group.

Fast forward to this past trade deadline, where expectations had grown, and the same message of staying prudent, has set the Canadiens fans ablaze (in anger).

Frankly said, I couldn't care less if they tried to add, coming out empty-handed is completely unacceptable. And please spare me the cliches: "still young", "it was a seller's market", we "like where we are we believe in this group" etc. A little more and they would have told us "Laine coming back is like a trade deadline addition". Enough, seriously. We know when we are getting hoodwinked.

And besides, nearly all your rivals made some additions, granted none earth-shattering. Last I checked, Buffalo is a young team as well, but that didn't stop them from adding pieces. On a Habs team whose main issue is (lack of) depth, another RHD (even a bottom-pairing one) or a big physical fourth liner could have done this team a world of good. A player like Brayden Schenn didn't cost the Islanders the moon or set back their rebuild/retool plan did it?And, frankly, despite being a young team, taking a step back this season could have lasting consequences.

So when Hughes came out to meet the media, nearly 90 minutes late, and claimed they were working on some big acquisitions, that response should not have been deemed satisfactory. Promising we were about to land a jumbo sized fish but ran out of time, or that this potentially blockbuster trade could be revisited in the summer, was not good enough.

The reality is they had plenty of time leading up to the deadline to add depth. But the predicament we were in with regards to the cap, and the blind faith in players that have fallen well short of expectations, or simply have little more to give (Carrier, Evans, Xhekaj, Struble, Dach, to name a few), led us to where we are today: dearly fighting for our (playoff) lives once again.