Space freed up on CH payroll: targets identified for Hughes on the market, including a very big name

However, the Habs are headed for a second straight non-playoff season. Kent Hughes is expected to make some personnel moves between now and the trade deadline.

It is very likely that some players will leave the team in the next few weeks, especially those who will be eligible for full autonomy after the current season. These players include Evgeny Dadonov, Jonathan Drouin, Paul Byron and Sean Monahan.

While Monahan's return would be interesting, it's not likely to be the case with the other three. While Drouin hasn't been playing bad hockey in recent games, don't expect to get much in return.

However, as Samuel Doiron of Habsolumentfan.com reports, that's about $20 million that will come off the Habs' payroll with the four free agents. Considering that the cap will increase slightly next season, it is possible that Kent Hughes will be tempted to sign a big name on the free agent market this summer.

In fact, The Hockey Writers has published a list of the top 20 free agents that will be available at the end of the season. As is the case every year, there are some excellent players.

This is the case for David Pastrnak, Patrick Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko, Dylan Larkin, Ryan O'Reilly, Jonathan Toews and a certain Patrice Bergeron, among others.

As we know, the Bruins' captain is Kent Hughes' former client. As some rumors mentioned at this time last year, many Canadiens fans would love to see the Quebec forward finish his career in Montreal.

Canucks forward Bo Horvat is also on the list, as well as goaltenders Semyon Varlamov and Tristan Jarry.

Which one would you target? There are some big names, including the very big name of David Pastrnak. Dylan Larkin is also very interesting.

It's still too early to speculate on what strategy the Habs will use for next season, but if last summer's failure of Kent Hughes to land a big name on the free agent market is any indication, the same scenario could be repeated in the summer of 2023.

Unless a certain Connor Bedard appears in the picture.