The Sens took the Pens to 7 games in the Conference final 3 years ago. They were 1 win away from playing Nashville for the cup. Yes the last two years have been rough for them, but their future is so much brighter than the Habs right now.
They are likely going to have 2 top 5 picks in this years draft. That is unreal seeing that this is going to be the strongest draft talent wise since the early 2000s. They also have three 2nd round picks. Add to that pieces like Tkachuk (who our GM passed on to pick Kotkaniemi ugh) Chabot, Hogberg and a reborn Anthony Duclair plus prospect pieces like Chlapik at center and Thomson on defense and they have really strong bones.
Montreal's lone bright budding NHL capable talent wasn't even drafted by us, and Caufield is a huge question mark because of his size and Romanov is going to be a good player but he's 2-3 years out from being an NHL mainstay. Primeau could be great but as long as the boat anchor Price continues to cash his checks whoever the coach is will have to play him, so how much development is Primeau realistically going to see over the next 3-4 years? We'll have a decent 1st round lottery slot, and two 2nd round picks, but there is zero logical reason to think Bergevin is going to do anything with any of these picks given his horrendous drafting and development track record.
Ottawa, New Jersey, Detroit, are all playing their young prospects as top 6 forwards and giving them prime power play minutes. They certainly aren't trading for aging players to steal playing minutes with no conceivable long term plan in place.
