There were no big name UFAsI think they tried to land a big name UFA, but came up empty handed. Again, players shun this place and they have every reason to do so. I mean the language laws, the infrastructure, the taxes, the weather and the dwindling nightlife. The Sens signed Perron, so my guess is he might have wanted to sign here, but the asking price was more than the Habs wanted to give. Either way, he is older now and he is declining. Apart from Toronto, all the other canadian clubs are faced with the same issues as the Habs. They are unable to attract guys like Stamkos, Marchessault, etc. Monahan's new deal is atrocious and Toffoli @6 mil. is market value. The Habs didn't want to commit to any of these guys.
Next year, Marner, Draisatl, Tavares, Rantanen will be the highly coveted names. Will the Habs make a splash? Highly unlikely, because most of them will resign with their respective clubs. Anyways, 60 mil for a player that has yet to establish himself seems risky. 50 points is now worth 7.6 mil. average caphit. The Habs have now about 22 mil. tied up on 3 forwards, Still less than the Laffs. I bet Demidov gets something similar 2-3 yrs from now.
HuGo's plan is clear. Tank and build through the draft.
Unless you consider a 35 year old Steven Stamkos a big name.
But he wasn't signing in Montreal.