It can take a while for an organization to fix a need in its lineup. Just look at the Montreal Canadiens’ elusive search for top-six centre that spanned a decade. The team lacked both the draft capital to select their impact centreman and the player surplus to trade for the pivotal piece. They were forced to make the best of what they had.
Now, compared to a few years ago, Montreal is flush with assets. Their reset has given them one of best prospect pools in the league, both in terms of depth and quality. Fresh young talents have pushed out other players to the edge of the lineup.