The cut in 2027: the assets of the Canadian, unheard of in 40 years

UPDATE DAY

You have to go back to the 80s, to Serge Savard and Patrick Roy, Stéphane Richer, Claude Lemieux and Petr Svoboda to find a Canadian team with such promising assets. 

And I take the word “assets” as it is understood in business and finance. As your house is an asset, the small land you inherit in the Laurentians is an asset. As your investments with the broker, despite market turbulence, are part of your assets.

At the Canadian, the assets are the current players. But they are mostly the next generation players, the draft picks and the leaders of the team. Kent Hughes is as important long-term as a first-round pick. No doubt more. He is one of the assets.

Like you, the supporters, are one of the assets of the Glorious. You buy season tickets, game tickets, merchandise, watch the games on TV and allow the organization to capitalize tens of millions a year.

I tell you, never in the last forty years has the Canadian been so rich in assets. Words from Jamieson Boulanger, the investment advisor, drafted into the Expos organization and studious hockey expert, who originally caught my attention.

A couple of scout friends later, a few journalists , Donato Tamarasco's blessing and Kent Hughes' ultimate verification later, I can safely say that the fans are right to be confident. True confidence.

THE 2025-26 OFFENSIVE ROSTER

The Canadian roster in 2025-26 could be that of a great power. And no need to dream in color.

Take first the trio: first-rounder Cole Caufield, first-rounder Nick Suzuki, and first-rounder Juraj Slafkovsky will have come of age.

< p>Second line: Kirby Dach, first round, third overall, Pierre-Luc Dubois (speculation) or equivalent, first round, and Matvei Michkov or whoever will be drafted fifth in the next draft. Whether Michkov or another, the asset remains the same for the Canadian. A talented player of great value.

Which gives two complete lines formed by first-round picks. Six stuck together. Extremely rare.

And it continues for the third line: Josh Anderson, a solid veteran, Sean Farell, fourth round, 31st overall, and Brendan Gallagher, who has his place on a third line, should be a active among all these young people.

The fourth line makes me happy: Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Owen Beck and Joshua Roy who is becoming a very, very valuable asset bring the ardor and the character of a true fourth line.

< strong>AND DEFENSE IN THE ASSOCIATION FINALS

If the offense is full of first-round picks, the defense is even more enticing. First pair formed by Kevin Ghule, first round, and Mike Matheson, first round.

Second pair: Harris, third round, and Logan Mailloux, first round.

Third duo: Xhekaj, the toffe, and Lane Hutson who burns college hockey with Boston University. He has just beaten Brian Leetch's points record.

And your seventh defender becomes Justin Barron… first round too.

In goal, Sam Montembeault or the young Jakub Dobes who has just signed his contract with the Canadian after a brilliant university career. If Adin Hill does the job with the Golden Knights in Vegas…

But since we are talking about assets for the Organization, it should be noted that Marc Bergevin has left the team with quality choices for this season and the next two. Nine picks in the first five rounds on June 28, plus two first-round picks in 2025 including the Calgary Flames.

The liabilities of the Canadian are obviously the contracts encumbered with mortgages that are the contracts of Carey Price and Brendan Gallagher. But the CH will be released from that of Price for the 2026-27 season and will have around ten million available to get the missing element to win the Cup.

The unknown or the unknowns are the transactions that Kent Hughes will be able to perform and the competence of Martin Lapointe and Finland's Adam Nicholas, responsible for player development.

For transactions, there is not too much to worry about since Hughes will not than transfer asset for asset unless he is an incompetent crass. Which obviously doesn't seem to be the case.

As for Nicholas and Lapointe, they must give the lie to the terrible reputation that many amateurs give to those responsible for youth development in the organization. Specialists to burn off great talent.

Nothing is certain in sport. Even less for thirty years in Montreal. But it becomes reasonable to dream of a four aces in the spring of 2026… and a Cup in 2027.

However, I will conclude with the caveat of an eminent colleague. And confirmed by a high placed at the CH: “There are at least a dozen other teams who think they have assets comparable to those of the Canadian”, they say.

In fact, all the everyone in the league knows exactly the assets of the Canadian. And in return, the leaders of the Canadian know exactly the assets of their competitors. It is a gigantic and complex part of intelligence. In every sense of the word.

But there is one thing for sure. Your CH is sitting on “blue chips”. No one can deny that.

LIONEL MESSI: SO BIG

Lionel Messi in Miami in the MLS! It's so big that the average fan can't grasp the full magnitude of this decision. You have to go back to King Pelé with the New York Cosmos to find such a thunderclap in sport.

And Pelé with the Cosmos, it was in another era. Even before the old days. When Guy Lafleur earned $70,000 with the Canadiens after scoring 50 goals in a season.

In fact, some people will be tempted to talk about Wayne Gretzky, who went to the Los Angeles Kings about thirty years ago. years.

S'cuse me, Gretzky, that was pee-wee compared to Messi, who had a US$1.4 billion offer for two years in Saudi Arabia.

It's the whole MLS that has just grown. It's CF Montreal and Joey Saputo as well. Bravo.