But there are some big questions that need to be answered before GM Kent Hughes can come up with a plan to improve the team this summer.
Is Carey Price’s career over?
Can Shea Weber and his contract be traded?
Does Jeff Petry want to stay with the Canadiens?
The answers to those questions will determine what kind of salary-cap space Hughes has to play with.
“At the end of the day, what we’re hoping to get is clarity in terms of is this an injury that Carey’s going to be able to recover from and return to true form or not,” Hughes said Saturday about the knee injury that limited Price to five games this season. “Is it something that he’s going to be able to play with? We don’t have those answers right now.”
Price had surgery to repair a torn meniscus last July and said Saturday a second operation is a possibility since he continues to have swelling in his knee.