Next summer, Kent Hughes will have plenty of room on his payroll. We've told you several times about the possibility of him signing a high-impact independent player, like William Nylander, for example. However, if Hughes waits another year, not only will he have the chance to give his youngsters another year to prove they deserve a spot, but there could be several very interesting players on the free-agent market. These include Sidney Crosby, Mikko Rantanen, Mitch Marner, Leon Draisaitl and John Tavares, to name but a few. What's more, the Habs' GM could be looking at more than $30 million in new money, with the contracts of David Savard, Christian Dvorak, Jake Allen, Joel Armia, Jake Evans and Michael Pezzetta all coming to an end, in addition to the new money created in the previous year. To be perfectly realistic, we can forget about Crosby, who will sign with the Penguins until his retirement. The Oilers will certainly sign Leon Draisaitl as well, while the Avalanche have no reason not to sign Rantanen. It's more Toronto's side that could have players available. If the Leafs don't win more in the next two years, they'll certainly have to rethink their strategy and stop spending the majority of their payroll on four players. Imagine Mitch Marner signing with the Habs in 2025! That would be quite a turnaround.