If you could take the Habs roster exactly as is and insert a center with 60+ point potential, you’d have a strong contender in the Eastern Conference. And the team may even have the pieces to do something like that, with seven first/second-round picks over the next two years, and a decent collection of prospects that includes Mikhail Sergachev, Nikita Scherbak, Noah Juulsen, Michael McCarron, and Charles Hudon. If those assets aren’t enough, though, they’ll need to subtract from the main roster, which would be an unfortunate but worthwhile blow.

In fact, it’s the Habs’ overwhelming need for a top tier center that makes trading a player like Alex Galchenyuk a potentially smart move. People would make fun of the team if they ever did it, saying they gave up on him. But swapping him out and bringing in someone like Matt Duchene, while bumping Artturi Lehkonen into the top-six, almost assuredly makes the team better. And because of the age of several of the Habs’ key pieces, like Weber, Markov, Price, and Radulov, the team needs to see what they can do to win today, not tomorrow.

But aside from the team’s necessary search for a center, they have some more general housekeeping to do this offseason too.

First of all, the team is in a decent spot in the expansion draft. With only seven forwards even really worth protecting (and one of them a UFA), the team doesn’t have to worry about losing valuable scoring. In net, protecting Carey Price is a no-brainer. But the team will probably lose a useful defenseman. They could protect Weber, Petry, and Beaulieau, with 38-year-old UFA Markov unlikely to be taken as well. That means the team probably loses Emelin, or possibly Davidson or Benn. And if they protect eight skaters total in order to protect more defensemen, they likely lose a good forward such as Gallagher, Danault, or Shaw. So either way, the team loses someone good. Luckily it would only be a minor loss in the grand scheme of their roster.

At the draft, Montreal has a first round pick and two seconds. That gives them good flexibility to either bolster their prospect pool, or look at making a meaningful improvement to the main roster via trade. Again, Bergevin should keep a close eye on potential centers available, as free agency is a slimmer group.

But they still could look at signing a center. It’s a weak group though, so there are only two main options at the center position for a team looking at a meaningful upgrade: Joe Thornton and Nick Bonino. Neither are ideal, as Thornton’s turning 38 and took a big step back this year, while Bonino is really only a similar-level player to Danault or Shaw.

The Habs are one of those so close, yet so far away teams. They have almost all the pieces of a true contending team. But they’re missing one major piece, and it’s possibly the most valuable and hardest to acquire. So in simple terms, when it comes to this summer, Marc Bergevin has his work cut out for him. If he can get the job done, the Habs could put together a serious drive for 25 Stanley Cups. If not though, the team will still be good — just not good enough.