Hughes may have a chance to acquire a generational player if the CH has another difficult season

Now that the Habs' 2012-2022 season of misery is behind us, let's move on to the next season, which will begin in just over two months.

While most experts agree that the Habs can't do any worse than last year, very few predict a significant improvement despite all the changes the organization made during the off-season.

In fact, on that topic, as reported by J.B. Gagné of GoHabsGo.com, the PuckEmpire team on Instagram went ahead and predicted the Habs' ranking heading into the 2022-2023 season.

According to them, Martin St-Louis' men will finish 28th overall in the NHL, as well as last in its division.



Only four teams are expected to finish behind the Habs in their view, including the Philadelphia Flyers, San Jose Sharks, Arizona Coyotes and Chicago Blackhawks, who PuckEmpire sees finishing last overall. Even the Seattle Kraken, who will be entering the second season of their history, are ranked higher than the Habs at 27th.

That means Kent Hughes could potentially get his hands on another high first-round pick in the upcoming draft, and unlike this year, the 2023 crop of prospects is frankly promising.

We only have to think of a certain Connor Bedard, who will represent Canada at the next World Junior Championship in Edmonton in a few days, and also of Russian forward Matvei Mitchkov (plus Adam Fantilli, who many believe would be a first overall pick of many vintages).

Let's just say that if the Habs were ever to experience another season of misery, then fans of the team could start dreaming of a future franchise player (whether it be Bedard, Mitchkov or even Fantilli).