Montreal Canadiens Season Preview

The Canadiens made some big off season moves that included signing franchise goalie Carey Price and recreating the defence with three regulars from last year leaving. Even with the addition of Jonathan Drouin, the forwards should still struggle to create offence while the defence will take a step back because of the departures on the blue line. The Canadiens will be in the playoff race just because they have Carey Price but he may not be enough to propel them into the playoffs.

Arrivals/Departures

Arrivals: Jonathan Drouin, Karl Alzner, David Schlemko, Peter Holland, Mark Streit, Ales Hemsky, Joe Morrow, Matt Taormina, Byron Froese
Departures: Alexander Radulov, Andrei Markov, Alexei Emelin, Nathan Beaulieu, Dwight King, Brian Flynn, Mikhail Sergachev, Nikita Nesterov, Steve Ott



Forwards:

Max Pacioretty is the only Canadiens forward who has proven he can consistently score, putting up five-consecutive 30-goal, 60-point seasons (not including lockout season). Jonathan Drouin is the big addition of the summer coming off his best season in the NHL where he put up 53 points. Drouin never seemed to get much of a chance in Tampa Bay as he did not get along with management, especially general manager Steve Yzerman who was looking to trade Drouin for over a year. Alex Galchenyuk was the center of trade rumours but he is still yet to be traded making it seem more and more likely he will still be the Canadiens number one center when October comes around, Galchenyuk needs to work on his offence and defence if he is to become a true number one center. Tomas Plekanec had a drop off in his play during the 2016-17 season but the number two center spot is still his to lose thanks to the defensive game he plays. Brendan Gallagher is a great pest in front of the net but after a down season he will need to bump up his offensive production. The final member of the top six is Andrew Shaw who like many players has trouble to score and is there for defence and grit. Phillip Danault broke out last year jumping from five points to 40; if his production continues to sky rocket he could be the number one or number two center at the end of the season. Paul Byron also had a surprisingly good season as he scored 22 goals thanks to his speed, Byron will also compete for a top-six spot. Artturi Lehkonen will also be on the third line after a rookie season in which he played good enough to earn himself a full-time roster spot. Veteran Ales Hemsky is most certainly past his prime but he will be asked to produce offensively for a team that desperately needs offence from the all forwards. Peter Holland will be the fourth-line center after he was signed as a free agent by the Canadiens. Andreas Martinsen will have the final forward spot for now after a trade deadline deal dealt him to the Canadiens. Veteran Torrey Mitchell along with youngsters Charles Hudon and Michael McCarron will compete for a regular spot on the roster too.



Defenceman:

Shea Weber is not the defenceman he was with the Predators but with his wicked hard slap shot he is still a number one defenceman and one of the best in the league. Weber still runs the power play as good as anyone to go along with his physicality to help shutdown the other teams' offensive stars; it is very hard to score on the Habs when Weber is on the ice. Karl Alzner joined the Canadiens via free agency to play the shutdown role alongside Weber now that Andrei Markov has left for the KHL, Alzner won't give you much offensively but he can shutdown anyone and plays a lot of penalty kill minutes. Jeff Petry is the only other top-four defenceman on this team but even he is not really good as he does not put up outstanding numbers or stop the other teams' best players. David Schlemko will replace Alexei Emelin on the second pair as he puts up more offence than Emelin and will play on the power play. Jordie Benn will play the shutdown role on the bottom pair with either veteran Mark Streit coming off a Stanley Cup or youngster Brandon Davidson who is ready to get a full-time NHL job. Joe Morrow may also compete for a roster spot on opening day but it is more likely he helps the AHL squad until an injury happens causing him to be called up.



Goaltending:

Carey Price is still the best goalie in the NHL and with no more rumours about his future - thanks to his massive deal - no distractions should surround him in 2017-18. If Carey Price is on your team you will be a playoff contender thanks to his consistent play that makes him the standard of an NHL goalie. Al Montoya has been a reliable backup his whole career; he should continue to be that behind Price again.

Projected Lineup:

Max Pacioretty	Alex Galchenyuk	Jonathan Drouin
Andrew Shaw	Tomas Plekanec	Brendan Gallagher
Artturi Lehkonen	Phillip Danault	Paul Byron
Andreas Martinsen	Peter Holland	Ales Hemsky
Charles Hudon	Torrey Mitchell	Michael McCarron

Karl Alzner	Shea Weber
David Schlemko	Jeff Petry
Brandon Davidson	Jordie Benn
Mark Streit	Joe Morrow

Carey Price

Al Montoya

Charlie Lindgren

Top 10 Players:

10. Jeff Petry

9. Andrew Shaw

8. Brendan Gallagher

7. Karl Alzner

6. Tomas Plekanec

5. Alex Galchenyuk

4. Jonathan Drouin

3. Max Pacioretty

2. Shea Weber

1. Carey Price



Projected Finish: 93 Points (4th in Atlantic)
Last Year: 103 Points (1st in Atlantic)

Photo credit for Jonathan Drouin and Max Pacioretty goes to http://www.cbc.ca/. Shea Weber and Carey Price goes to http://www.sportsnet.ca/.

NHL Trade Opinions

There have been six recent trades in the NHL that have to do with the expansion draft and I am going to recap them all with my opinion on who won the trade. Some of these trades if not all of them might not have happened if there was no expansion draft.

Capitals receive: Tyler Graovac
Wild receive: 2018 5th round pick

This trade was based on the expansion draft as the Capitals traded for Graovac so they could protect two of Tom Wilson, Lars Eller and Jay Beagle. They needed to leave two forwards unprotected who have played 70 career NHL games or 40 games last year and Graovac reached those requirements. The Wild did not use Graovac much and he was most likely not going to make the roster. Graovac will probably not be taken in the draft and could compete for fourth-line minutes.

Winner: Capitals

Canadiens receive: Jonathan Drouin, 2018 6th round pick (conditional)
Lightning receive: Mikhail Sergachev, 2018 2nd round pick (conditional)

Jonathan Drouin is a star in the making and will help the Montreal team which has struggled to score goals the last couple of seasons. Drouin has been the centre of trade rumors ever since he was banished to the AHL in 2014/15 and has not got along well with Steve Yzerman and management since. The expansion draft played a part in this trade too as Tampa wanted to protect someone young such as Vladislav Namestnikov. Mikhail Sergachev is a great young defenceman who will one day turn into a star so the Bolts got good return on the trade.

Winner: Canadiens



Coyotes receive: Nick Cousins, Merrick Madsen
Flyers receive: Brendan Warren, 2018 5th round pick

Nick Cousins could be a solid fourth-line centre for the rebuilding Coyotes as he was a solid depth forward for the Flyers last season. The Flyers likely want to play guys like Scott Laughton, Jordan Weal and Taylor Leier ahead of him and that is why the trade was made. The Flyers might have also thought Cousins could be lost in the upcoming expansion draft.

Winner: Coyotes

Canadiens receive: 2017 3rd round pick
Sabres receive: Nathan Beaulieu

The Canadiens most likely got rid of this young defenceman because they wanted to protect Alexei Emelin and thought Vegas would snag Beaulieu. The Sabres defence needs a lot of work after Rasmus Ristolainen and Bealieu will be able to play top four minutes. The Sabres had no defenceman to protect after Ristolainen and Jake McCabe and will probably hope for Zach Bogosian to be picked as he has disappointed since his trade from Winnipeg.

Winner: Sabres

Coyotes receive: Chad Johnson, Brandon Hickey, 3rd round pick (conditional)
Flames receive: Mike Smith

Brian Elliott was a huge disappointment for Calgary last year so Flames GM Brad Treliving decided to do something about it. Mike Smith is 35 and makes $5.66 million for two more years, some of it being retained by Arizona but he made the all-star team last year and his puck-moving ability will help this up-and-coming Flames team. John Chayka probably wanted to protect Louis Domingue because he will continue to improve and quite possibly will be a solid starter one day. Considering the Flames only gave up a 3rd, Chad Johnson who is a UFA and was not likely to be resigned as well as defensive prospect Brandon Hickey who has shown decent potential makes the move worth it.

Winner: Flames




Devils receive: Mirco Mueller, 2017 5th round pick
Sharks receive: 2017 2nd round pick, 2017 4th round pick

Mirco Mueller was once a very promising prospect for the Sharks but he no longer shows that same flash to be a top defenceman. That aside he still has decent top four potential and Doug Wilson in San Jose made this trade because Vegas will be looking for young defenceman. The Devils defence needs lots of work and getting a young defenceman who should crack the team next year is a good investment for them.

Winner: Devils

Photo credit for Jonathan Drouin photo goes to http://www.tsn.ca/ and credit for Mike Smith goes to http://www.cbssports.com/