32 in (roughly) 32 Sesason Preview: Montreal Canadiens

The Canadiens add physicality as they begin to rebuild

Team: Montreal Canadiens

GM: Eric Kozlowski

Power Ranking Placement: 31/32 in league, 8/8 in division, 16/16 in conference

Significant Additions:

Brain Elliot, G - 84 OV

Craig Smith, C/W - 81 OV

Braden Holtby, G - 81 OV

Marcus Johansson, C/W - 80 OV

Kaapo Kakko, C/W - 79 OV

Danton Heinen, C/W - 77 OV

Michael McCarron, C/W - 77 OV

Chris Tierny, C/W - 77 OV

Wayne Simmonds, C/W - 75 OV

Matt Martin, C/W - 75 OV

Milan Lucic, C/W - 75 OV

Ryan Reeves, C/W - 75 OV

Mark Borowiecki, D - 75 OV

Zack Kassian, C/W - 75 OV

Mads Sogaard, G - 75 OV

Liam Ohgren, C/W - Prospect

Sebastian Cossa, G - Prospect

Rieger Lorenz, C/W - Prospect

Significant Subtractions:

Evgeni Malkin, C/W - 86 OV

Anthony Duclair, C/W - 85 OV

Alexander Georgiev, G - 84 OV

Jakub Voracek, C/W - 84 OV

John Klingberg, D - 83 OV

Victor Olofsson, C/W - 83 OV

Jordan Eberle, C/W - 83 OV

Gustav Forsling, D - 83 OV

Dylan Strome, C/W - 82 OV

Frederick Gaudreau, C/W - 82 OV

Jason Zucker, C/W - 81 OV

Jordan Greenway, C/W - 80 OV

Mike Reilly, D - 80 OV

Joel Edmundson, D - 80 OV

Ross Colton, C/W - 79 OV

Frank Vatrano, C/W - 79 OV

Marc-Edouard Vlasic, D - 79 OV

Brandon Sutter, C/W - Ineligible

Offseason grade: D-

GM Kozlowski has flipped practically his entire roster and is commencing a rebuild. They’ve acquired a ton of picks for the next 2 years as well as prospects like Cossa and Ohgren in return for some good players as well as taking on some bad contracts. On paper, this off-season is pretty rough, hence the low grade. With all the future assets they’ve acquired though, this off-season can be the start of a new era and in a couple years, assuming Montreal drafts well and continues to build up their assets, they should be in a good spot once their rebuild finishes.

Projected Lineup: 

C. Smith - Johansson - Kakko

Heinen - Tierney - Simmonds

McBain - McCarron - Lucic

Reeves - N. Smith - M. Martin

- 

Hamonic - de Haan

Moore - Juulsen

Borowiecki - Moser

-

Elliot

Price

Quote from the GM:

“GM Eric Kozlowski spoke with me on his expectations this season, stating that “We might not win many games this year, but we should be a very physical team! Montreal is in complete rebuild mode as you can see. Hopefully with the amazing scouts we have, we are able to pick up some good kids. Montreal will be very busy scouting this year!”

Season Expectations: Rebuild

“A very physical team” might be a bit of an understatement when it comes to Montreal. With a roster comprised of Ryan Reeves, Milan Lucic, Matt Martin, Michael McCarron, Zack Kassian, etc., the Montreal Canadiens will likely be an easy team to beat, but it’ll come with a price. No one will be coming out of games against this team unscathed and will very likely be taking a ton of penalties, fights, and causing injuries. Montreal is rebuilding, so this is a good way for Montreal to compensate for a lack of skill throughout the lineup. They might be able to sneak a few wins against teams who pull their star players out of fear of potential injury. The Montreal Goon Squad will be towards the bottom of the league this year, and likely for a few more years, but will be looking to continue selling assets and building their future. They’ll likely be an interesting team to watch just to see how many penalty minutes they can get and how many injuries will come from their games, but otherwise they’re not a team to follow in the race for a playoff spot. 

In the next entry, we’ll be covering the Nashville Predators. Thank you for reading, and have a wonderful day!

Previous entries:

Anaheim Ducks: https://dchl.ca/articles/senators/32-in-roughly-32-season-preview-anaheim-ducks

Arizona Coyotes: https://dchl.ca/articles/senators/32-in-roughly-32-sesaon-preview-arizona-coyotes

Boston Bruins: https://dchl.ca/articles/senators/32-in-roughly-32-season-preview-boston-bruins

Buffalo Sabres: https://dchl.ca/articles/senators/32-in-roughly-32-season-preview-buffalo-sabres

Calgary Flames: https://dchl.ca/articles/senators/32-in-roughly-32-season-preview-calgary-flames

Carolina Hurricanes: https://dchl.ca/articles/senators/32-in-roughly-32-season-preview-carolina-hurricanes

Chicago Blackhawks: https://dchl.ca/articles/senators/32-in-roughly-32-season-preview-chicago-blackhawks

Colorado Avalanche: https://dchl.ca/articles/league/32-in-roughly-32-season-preview-colorado-avalanche

Columbus Blue Jackets: 

https://dchl.ca/articles/senators/32-in-roughly-32-season-preview-columbus-blue-jackets

Dallas Stars: https://dchl.ca/articles/senators/32-in-roughly-32-season-preview-dallas-stars

Detroit Red Wings: https://dchl.ca/articles/league/32-in-roughly-32-season-preview-detroit-red-wings

Edmonton Oilers: https://dchl.ca/articles/senators/32-in-roughly-32-season-preview-edmonton-oilers

Florida Panthers: https://dchl.ca/articles/senators/32-in-roughly-32-season-preview-florida-panthers

Los Angeles Kings: https://dchl.ca/articles/league/32-in-roughly-32-season-preview-los-angeles-kings

Minnesota Wild: https://dchl.ca/articles/senators/32-in-roughly-32-season-preview-minnesota-wild