Big move possible for Hughes: 9 star players on track to become free agents next summer

After a very difficult 2021-2022 season, the vast majority of experts agree that 2022-2023 is likely to be just as disappointing.

However, the reality is that it could (already) be the last season of misery. The Habs now have a very impressive bank of young players, like Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Kirby Dach, Kaiden Guhle, Justin Barron, Sean Farrell, Joshua Roy, Filip Mesar, Owen Beck, Jordan Harris, Logan Mailloux, Lane Hutson and many others.

On top of that, the CH will have the opportunity to add two other very promising young players with its two 2023 first round picks (the one from Montreal and the one from Florida), two picks that are considered to be truly exceptional.

Imagine if, on top of all that, we add a Connor Bedard or a Matvei Michkov.

Anyway, there's another very important point.

At the end of the 2022-2023 season, Kent Hughes has made sure he has a lot of room on his payroll, because a lot of big contracts will expire. So he can really have fun, and try to sign big free agents, next July.

The contracts of Evgeni Dadonov (5 million), Paul Byron (3.4 million), Jake Allen (2.875 million), Sean Monahan (6.375 million) and Jonathan Drouin (5.5 million) will all be up (plus a few others).

That's over $23 million that will suddenly become available for Hughes (to store around). That's really a lot! Let's also not forget Carey Price's $10.5 million on the long-term injured list.

A SPECTACULAR CROP OF FREE AGENTS IN 2023

As Marco Normandin reports, currently, there are more than nine All-Star players who will be free as a bird next summer (and who could be targeted by Kent Hughes).

One thing is for sure, the CH might at least have the space on the payroll to afford one or two of them. By "star players", we mean players with 75 points or more.

See the complete list:

Patrick Kane - Blackhawks

Nathan MacKinnon - Avalanche

Vladimir Tarasenko - Blues

Joe Pavelski - Stars

Alex DeBrincat - Senators

David Pastrnak - Bruins

Timo Meier - Sharks (depending on his next deal)

Jordan Kyrou - Blues (depending on his next deal)

Other names to remember:

Dylan Larkin - Red Wings

Michael Bunting - Maple Leafs

Tyler Bertuzzi - Red Wings

Ryan O'Reilly - Blues

Bo Horvat - Canucks

John Klingberg - Ducks

Damon Severson - Devils

MacKenzie Weegar - Flames

Frederik Andersen - Hurricanes (L)

Tristan Jarry - Penguins (L)

Some of the players on this list will be signing new contracts with their current teams by July of this year, but several others will be truly free as a bird. Which ones would you target?

Do you think the rebuild ends in 2023-2024?

Credit: HABSolumentFan