Montreal Canadiens have a major problem brewing with two young players

The Canadiens finished their season 48-24-10 with 106 points, but the offseason questions are already piling up for GM Kent Hughes.

Two names sit at the center of it: Oliver Kapanen and Adam Engstrom.

"THE SPECIFIC CASES OF OLIVER KAPANEN AND ADAM ENGSTROM

I'm just pondering the issue and don't have any specific information about these two players. But given that the Canadiens are looking to add a defenseman and an offensive center to their roster, what does the future hold for Oliver Kapanen and Adam Engstrom?"

- Anthony Martineau

Kapanen had a solid regular season. Twenty-two goals, 37 points, a +4 rating over 82 games at $925,000. That's a good number on a cheap deal for a young forward.

But the playoffs told a different story. Seven games, held scoreless, went -2. And if the regular season's final stretch was any indication, the drop-off started earlier. He was held pointless and went -3 over his last 10 games.

The question isn't whether Kapanen can play in the NHL. He clearly can. The question is where.

He's been used primarily as a third or fourth-line winger, and that's fine for now. But the Canadiens are starting to build the kind of roster where bodies like his become uncomfortable fits if he can't push into a bigger role. Does he centre? Can he? That's not a trivial conversation.

Engstrom's path to the lineup is narrow and getting narrower

Engstrom played just 15 games this season. One assist, one point, +2. He didn't dress in the playoffs at all.

He's 22, he skates well, he moves the puck. But look at what's already in front of him on the blue line. Lane Hutson posted 78 points in 82 regular-season games. Noah Dobson is signed at $9.5 million. Michael Matheson, Kaiden Guhle, Jayden Struble, Arber Xhekaj, and David Reinbacher are all in the mix.

That's a lot of left-side defenders competing for two or three spots. Engstrom fits a specific profile, and it's a profile the Canadiens already have depth at. Adding a right-shot defenseman this summer would compress that locker room crunch even further.

Kent Hughes has decisions to make. Not every young player who shows promise in the system is going to get the runway they need in Montreal right now. The Canadiens are close enough to winning that roster space has real value.

Kapanen at $925,000 and Engstrom at $896,667 are manageable cap numbers. But cap hit isn't the conversation. Lineup fit is.

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The harder question is whether Martin St-Louis sees both players as part of the next chapter, or whether one of them gets moved to create space for a different kind of move.

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