Montreal Canadiens’ general manager (GM) Kent Hughes made another offseason acquisition, signing unrestricted free agent (UFA) forward Joe Veleno to a one-year, one-way contract worth $900,000. This does add much-needed depth down the middle, but did the Canadiens just find their second-line center? No.
The offseason is long and full of opportunities. Montreal is still on the lookout for the elusive top-six centre, but this doesn’t mean it wasn’t a signing that was pointless. Veleno does bring some value to the roster, and all without blocking the path for any prospects or possible additions to the roster that the Canadiens will continue to look to add.
Canadiens Added Depth
The 25-year-old Montreal native had eight goals and 17 points in 74 games last season between the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks. This was a drop in production by the six-foot-one, 201-pound forward who had previously set career highs for goals (12), assists (16) and points (28) in 2023-24. Fans likely won’t be racing to social media to leave excited posts about his arrival. Veleno went from being the first player from Quebec, and only the fifth in CHL history, to be granted exceptional player status, allowing him to play major junior hockey at age 15, to being a late first-round pick, to mostly playing in the bottom six while making brief cameos in expanded top-six roles. However, he does still bring some value to an NHL roster.
He is a left-handed centre, which the team needed, but he lacks Christian Dvorak’s aptitude in the faceoff circle, and he is also not as defensively adept. He is, at this point, a gamble to find some semblance of his potential when he was drafted, but more likely, is simply a stop-gap measure to buy Montreal’s centre prospects one more season to mature in the American Hockey League (AHL) before they make the leap to the NHL. He has also left much to be desired offensively. Over the last two NHL seasons, Veleno had steadily been in a bottom-six role. He has been used by both Detroit and Chicago in secondary penalty-killing and power-play roles. The question is, can he win his one-on-one battles, defend adequately, and also add scoring? He still has good individual ability, a good shot, good vision and playmaking, so the hope is he will help drive some more offence in a bottom-six role with higher-skilled players available to him that he had last season.
He still has some potential to provide some playmaking flair for the Canadiens’ bottom six and provide some of the offence lost when Dvorak left for the Philadelphia Flyers. While Veleno’s possession statistics weren’t very good, his 138 hits last season point to a player willing to engage physically, and his ability to play with pace does fit into head coach Martin St. Louis’ desired archetype of player.
Canadiens Need More
Just days before adding Veleno to the roster, executive vice president Jeff Gorton told Jimmy Murphy of RG.org that the Canadiens are comfortable going into next season with who they have available. However, they are still exploring the trade market for another centre.
“No, I think we’re comfortable. We know we’re not a finished product,=.”
This may seem contradictory, but it isn’t. The team is coming off a surprise playoff appearance, but management isn’t setting a higher expectation for this club just yet. They are still needing to wait to see how some of their prospects develop. Can Owen Beck become the two-way, matchup-capable, third-line centre he was drafted to become back in 2022? Will Oliver Kapanen be able to take an NHL job for himself? The addition of Veleno gives the club a cushion if they can’t. That being said, the expectations for the Canadiens’ season are likely to remain where they were at the start of last season, with a desire to be in the playoff race, but not yet ready to sacrifice futures for a few rentals to earn a playoff spot. Management is still looking at long-term goals of adding players that will make them a Stanley Cup contender for a long time.
Kirby Dach is still a factor. With a full recovery and a focused offseason, he will most likely be given a chance to earn the role he was traded for to fill. Some have also thought that Alex Newhook could temporarily step into the role, but he is likely to play as a full-time winger. Even with the hope that Dach can finally realize his potential, the need for a centre in Montreal is obvious and has fuelled speculation about any that may be available as being a target for Montreal. Nick Kypreos on Sportsnet’s Summer Trade Board has linked Calgary Flames forward Nazem Kadri to the Canadiens.
Related: Canadiens Need to Overpay for a Top Centre
If no other additions are made, the Canadiens will enter the 2025-26 NHL season with a much-improved roster overall. Noah Dobson, Zachary Bolduc and a full season of Ivan Demidov instantly make the Canadiens better. But the Achilles’ heel is still the lack of support at centre. Adding Veleno adds depth, it doesn’t address the need for a centre who can take on some of the defensive matchups and special-teams responsibilities to support Nick Suzuki.
Yet Hughes has the assets on hand to trade from a position of strength to address this glaring need. With Adam Engstrom and other left-handed defenders ready for the NHL, Mike Matheson gives the Canadiens a great trade chip. He could be packaged with picks and even some prospects to add the missing link. Montreal could overpay in assets to find their needed piece, because until they can add a true top-six centre, the Canadiens won’t be taking the next step in their rebuild.
