This is my first blog post in a little over a month and it’s a big one. Today I’m going to dive deep into what’s in store for the Habs this off-season, and what I think the team should do. First, lets take a look at how Montreal did during the postseason.
Postseason Recap
The NHL decided to go with a 24 team format for the playoffs (12 East, 12 West) as everyone should know by now. Each team was ranked based on points percentage at the pause back in March, rather than just points as normally is the case. Teams seeded 5th-12th were placed into the Qualifying round which involved a best of 5 series. Montreal just snuck into the playoffs after being awarded the 12th seed in the Eastern Conference.
Montreal (12) took on the Pittsburgh Penguins (5) in the Qualifying round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Final. It’s always a tough task when playing against Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, but Montreal managed to come away with the series win in 4 games (3-1).
Montreal then moved on to the first round to face the 1st seed Philadelphia Flyers, in what was expected to be a low scoring series, and boy did it ever live up to that hype for the most part. Carey Price and Carter Hart were amazing, but the Habs couldn’t overcome the Flyers and ultimately fell in 6 games (4-2).
If there was anything to gain from this mini playoff run, it was some valuable experience for everyone involved, including a pair of Habs young stars.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Nick Suzuki took huge strides in their development. They played key roles on both sides of the puck in each series, both of them proved that they can be top 6 forwards in the NHL at a young age (Suzuki is 21, Kotkaniemi is 20). With both of them being so young and playing the way they did, the Habs have a very bright future at the center ice position.
Let’s take a look at the Habs top performers, as well as a couple who didn’t play that well statistically, given expectations put on them.
Top performers
- Suzuki: 10 GP, 4 G, 3 A, 7 PTS, 0 PIMS, +3.
- Drouin: 10 GP, 1 G, 6 A, 7 PTS, 8 PIMS, +3.
- Weber: 10 GP, 3 G, 2 A, 5 PTS, 16 PIMS, +5.
- Armia: 10 GP, 3 G, 2 A, 5 PTS, 10 PIMS, +5.
- Kotkaniemi: 10 GP, 4 G, 0 A, 4 PTS, 23 PIMS, +4.
- Price: 10 GP, 5 W, 5 L, 1.78 G.A.A., .936 Save %, 2 shutouts.
Underwhelming
- Tatar: 10 GP, 2 G, 0 A, 2 PTS, 4 PIMS, -1.
- Domi: 10 GP, 0 G, 3 A, 3 PTS, 8 PIMS, -2.
On the back-end, Petry, Kulak, and Chiarot were very good defensively, and were able to shut down some of the best players in the league night in, night out. Up front, Paul Byron did a great job at creating chances, and because of his role with the Habs, doesn’t get recognized nearly enough as he should.
Personally, I hate calling out players individually, but Xaiver Ouellet was not good on Montreal’s third D pair. He played in all 10 playoff games, but was constantly making mistake after mistake. There were definitely better options sitting in the stands that could’ve made a greater impact in my opinion. Cale Fleury, and Christian Folin come to mind.
Overall, like I mentioned, this was great experience for a relatively inexperienced Habs roster, and it will serve them wonders going forward.
Next up we’re going to discuss the Habs UFA’s and RFA’s going into the off-season.
Contract Situation/Possible Buyout
Heading into the off-season the Canadiens have 15 free agents (12 RFA, 3 UFA). Some tough decisions will have to be made, especially on the RFA front with players like Max Domi and Victor Mete.
RFA: Max Domi, Charles Hudon, Victor Mete, Xavier Ouellet, Jacob Lucchini, Jake Evans, Andrew Sturtz, Aaron Luchuk, Antoine Waked, Joseph Blandisi, Noah Juulsen, Michael McNiven.
UFA: Dale Weise, Christian Folin, Keith Kinkaid.
One possibility the Canadiens have to look at is buying out the contract of defenceman Karl Alzner. Alzner signed a 5 year, $23,125,000 contract on July 1st 2017, was brought in to bring some stability to the second D pairing, and hasn’t lived up to what was expected of him. In 95 games with the Habs, Alzner has put up 13 points (1 G, 12 A), 42 penalty minutes, and is a -7. He has spent a significant amount of time in the AHL with the Laval Rocket. In 87 games with Laval, Alzner had 19 points (2 G, 17 A), 34 penalty minutes and is a +6.
Alzner has 2 years left on his current contract. If the Habs were to keep him in Laval for the duration of his contract, they would only have to pay him $3 million per year, rather than $4.625 million.
If the Canadiens were to buyout his contract, it would last 4 years. Here is the year by year breakdown on what it would cost the Habs:
- 2020-21: $3,958,333
- 2021-22: $1,958,333
- 2022-23: $833,333
- 2023-24: $833,333
It would cost $6 million over 2 years to keep him in the AHL, or $7,583,332 over 4 years if they were to buy him out. I would expect the Habs to likely hold on to Alzner and place him in the minors. If Alzner fails to report to Laval, then the Habs would have to likely trade him and retain a good portion of his salary (upwards of 50%).
Draft Picks/Cap Space
Going into the 2020 NHL entry draft, the Habs have 11 draft picks. Whether they plan to use all 11 or use some in potential trades remains to be seen. Here is a breakdown of each pick the Habs hold for the upcoming draft which will take place October 6th and 7th.
- 1st round (16th overall)
- 2nd round (47th, 48th, 57th overall)
- 3rd round (78th overall)
- 4th round (98th, 102nd, 109th overall)
- 5th round (136th overall)
- 6th round (171st overall)
- 7th round (188th overall)
With their first round pick there are quite a few options the Habs may consider. Dawson Mercer (Chicoutimi, QMJHL), Henrix Lapierre (Chicoutimi, QMJHL), and Lukas Reichel (Eisbaren Berlin, DEL) are a trio of names to keep and eye on.
Going into the off-season the Canadiens have $10,202,024 million in cap space. Enough to possibly make a run at a high end free agent, which I think they will do.
Depth Chart
Now were going to look at the Habs depth chart, this includes the 15 pending free agents, all players on the Habs roster, Laval roster, prospects, as well as unsigned draft picks. It also includes statistics from the 2019-20 season for each player.
CENTERS
| Name | Age | 2019-20 Team (League) | GP | G | A | PTS | PIMS | +/- |
| Max Domi | 25 | Montreal (NHL) | 71 | 17 | 27 | 44 | 35 | -3 |
| Phillip Danault | 27 | Montreal (NHL) | 71 | 13 | 34 | 47 | 32 | +18 |
| Nick Suzuki | 21 | Montreal (NHL) | 71 | 13 | 28 | 41 | 6 | -15 |
| Jesperi Kotkaniemi | 20 | Montreal (NHL) Laval (AHL) | 36 13 | 6 1 | 2 12 | 8 13 | 23 16 | -11 +/-0 |
| Jake Evans | 24 | Montreal (NHL) Laval (AHL) | 13 51 | 2 14 | 1 24 | 3 38 | 0 26 | +1 -5 |
| Ryan Poehling | 21 | Montreal (NHL) Laval (AHL) | 27 36 | 1 5 | 1 8 | 2 13 | 4 6 | -4 -2 |
| Alex Belzile | 29 | Laval (AHL) | 20 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 30 | -1 |
| Lukas Vejdemo | 24 | Montreal (NHL) Laval (AHL) | 7 47 | 1 9 | 0 10 | 1 19 | 0 20 | +/-0 -8 |
| Laurent Dauphin | 25 | AHL totals (2 teams) | 58 | 14 | 17 | 31 | 42 | +7 |
| Alexandre Alain | 23 | Laval (AHL) | 60 | 11 | 13 | 24 | 26 | -2 |
| Aaron Luchuk | 23 | AHL totals (3 teams) ECHL totals (2 teams) | 6 46 | 0 19 | 0 31 | 0 50 | 0 14 | -2 +8 |
| Cam Hillis | 20 | Guelph (OHL) | 62 | 24 | 59 | 83 | 43 | +28 |
| Jacob Olofsson | 20 | Skelleftea AIK (SHL) | 24 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 6 | +1 |
| Joni Ikonen | 21 | KalPa (Liiga) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +/-0 |
| Brett Stapley | 21 | U. of Denver (NCAA) | 35 | 5 | 25 | 30 | 41 | +15 |
LEFT WINGERS
| Name | Age | 2019-20 Team (League) | GP | G | A | PTS | PIMS | +/- |
| Jonathan Drouin | 25 | Montreal (NHL) | 27 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 14 | -6 |
| Tomas Tatar | 29 | Montreal (NHL) | 68 | 22 | 39 | 61 | 36 | +5 |
| Paul Byron | 31 | Montreal (NHL) | 29 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 4 | +5 |
| Artturi Lehkonen | 25 | Montreal (NHL) | 70 | 13 | 14 | 27 | 24 | +2 |
| Charles Hudon | 26 | Montreal (NHL) Laval (AHL) | 15 46 | 1 27 | 1 8 | 2 35 | 0 51 | -9 +/-0 |
| Joseph Blandisi | 26 | Pittsburgh (NHL) AHL totals (2 teams) | 21 30 | 2 7 | 3 11 | 5 18 | 10 61 | -3 +1 |
| Joel Teasdale | 21 | Laval (AHL) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +/-0 |
| Michael Pezzetta | 22 | Laval (AHL) | 32 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 63 | -2 |
| Jake Lucchini | 25 | AHL totals (2 teams) | 61 | 11 | 9 | 20 | 14 | +4 |
| Hayden Verbeek | 22 | Laval (AHL) Adirondack (ECHL) | 6 21 | 0 5 | 0 14 | 0 19 | 2 4 | -1 +4 |
| Arsen Khisamutdinov | 22 | Nizhnekamsk (KHL) CSK VVS Samara (VHL) | 31 14 | 1 9 | 2 4 | 3 13 | 14 2 | -4 +/-0 |
| Rafael Harvey-Pinard | 21 | Chicoutimi (QMJHL) | 62 | 34 | 44 | 78 | 16 | +37 |
| Rhett Pitlick | 19 | USHL total (2 teams) | 45 | 17 | 25 | 42 | 18 | +8 |
| Jack Gorniak | 20 | U. of Wisconsin (NCAA) | 28 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 8 | -7 |
RIGHT WINGERS
| Name | Age | 2019-20 Team (League) | GP | G | A | PTS | PIMS | +/- |
| Brendan Gallagher | 28 | Montreal (NHL) | 59 | 22 | 21 | 43 | 29 | +9 |
| Joel Armia | 27 | Montreal (NHL) | 58 | 16 | 14 | 30 | 28 | +2 |
| Jordan Weal | 28 | Montreal (NHL) | 49 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 14 | -8 |
| Dale Weise | 32 | Montreal (NHL) Laval (AHL) | 23 27 | 1 3 | 4 4 | 5 7 | 16 14 | +1 -3 |
| Antoine Waked | 24 | Laval (AHL) Adirondack (ECHL) | 32 6 | 2 1 | 3 2 | 5 3 | 54 2 | +6 +/-0 |
| Andrew Sturtz | 25 | Belleville (AHL) ECHL totals (2 teams) | 14 11 | 1 1 | 1 3 | 2 4 | 0 4 | -4 -4 |
| Jesse Ylonen | 20 | Pelicans (Liiga) | 53 | 12 | 10 | 22 | 14 | -20 |
| Cole Caufield | 19 | U. of Wisconsin (NCAA) | 36 | 19 | 17 | 36 | 6 | -3 |
| Max Friberg | 27 | Frolunda HC (SHL) | 50 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 20 | +12 |
DEFENCEMEN
| Name | Age | 2019-20 Team (League) | GP | G | A | PTS | PIMS | +/- |
| Shea Weber | 35 | Montreal (NHL) | 65 | 15 | 21 | 36 | 33 | +8 |
| Jeff Petry | 32 | Montreal (NHL) | 71 | 11 | 29 | 40 | 26 | -10 |
| Victor Mete | 22 | Montreal (NHL) | 51 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 20 | +5 |
| Ben Chiarot | 29 | Montreal (NHL) | 69 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 61 | +5 |
| Brett Kulak | 26 | Montreal (NHL) | 56 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 12 | -1 |
| Cale Fleury | 21 | Montreal (NHL) Laval (AHL) | 41 14 | 1 2 | 0 3 | 1 5 | 6 4 | -4 -5 |
| Christian Folin | 29 | Montreal (NHL) Laval (AHL) | 16 15 | 1 1 | 1 3 | 2 4 | 13 4 | -1 +1 |
| Noah Juulsen | 23 | Laval (AHL) | 13 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | +6 |
| Xaiver Ouellet | 27 | Montreal (NHL) Laval (AHL) | 12 39 | 0 9 | 2 15 | 2 24 | 4 13 | +/-0 -10 |
| Gustav Olofsson | 25 | Montreal (NHL) Laval (AHL) | 3 57 | 0 1 | 0 15 | 0 16 | 2 18 | -4 +7 |
| Otto Leskinen | 23 | Montreal (NHL) Laval (AHL) | 5 52 | 0 2 | 0 20 | 0 22 | 0 57 | +/-0 -7 |
| Josh Brook | 21 | Laval (AHL) | 60 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 43 | -3 |
| Karl Alzner | 31 | Montreal (NHL) Laval (AHL) | 4 53 | 0 1 | 0 12 | 0 13 | 0 24 | -1 +4 |
| Alexander Romanov | 20 | CSKA Moscow (KHL) | 43 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 | +21 |
| Joel Edmundson | 27 | Carolina (NHL) | 68 | 7 | 13 | 20 | 72 | +7 |
| Jayden Struble | 19 | Northeastern U. (NCAA) | 21 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 36 | -2 |
| Mattias Norlinder | 20 | Modo (Allsvenskan) | 34 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 2 | +13 |
| Jordan Harris | 20 | Northeastern U. (NCAA) | 33 | 3 | 18 | 21 | 20 | +/-0 |
| Gianni Fairbrother | 19 | Everett (WHL) | 37 | 5 | 20 | 25 | 38 | +6 |
| Jacob LeGuerrier | 19 | SOO (OHL) | 61 | 6 | 25 | 31 | 74 | +4 |
| Kieran Ruscheinski | 19 | Salmon Arm (BCHL) | 36 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 29 | N/A |
| Arvid Henrikson | 22 | Lake Superior State U (NCAA) | 37 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 48 | +2 |
GOALIES
| Name | Age | 2019-20 Team (League) | GP | W | L | OTL | GAA | SV% | SO |
| Carey Price | 33 | Montreal (NHL) | 58 | 27 | 25 | 6 | 2.79 | .909 | 4 |
| Jake Allen | 30 | St. Louis (NHL) | 24 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 2.15 | .927 | 2 |
| Charlie Lindgren | 26 | Montreal (NHL) Laval (AHL) | 6 16 | 2 7 | 4 6 | 0 2 | 3.33 2.67 | .888 .893 | 0 1 |
| Cayden Primeau | 21 | Montreal (NHL) Laval (AHL) | 2 33 | 1 17 | 1 11 | 0 3 | 2.52 2.45 | .931 .908 | 0 4 |
| Keith Kinkaid | 31 | Montreal (NHL) Laval (AHL) Charlotte (AHL) | 6 13 4 | 1 3 2 | 1 7 1 | 3 3 1 | 4.24 3.44 2.24 | .875 .876 .924 | 0 0 0 |
| Michael McNiven | 23 | Laval (AHL) Adirondack (ECHL) Jacksonville (ECHL) Norfolk (ECHL) | 3 4 10 8 | 3 3 4 2 | 0 1 5 5 | 0 0 1 1 | 2.33 1.75 2.79 4.16 | .919 .941 .915 .889 | 0 2 1 0 |
| Vasili Demchenko | 26 | Magnitogorsk (KHL) | 14 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 2.71 | .906 | 0 |
| Frederick Dichow | 19 | Malmo U20 (SWEJ20) | 24 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 2.84 | .891 | 1 |
Top 10 Prospects
The Montreal Canadiens have a very deep prospect pool in all positions. In my opinion, these are the Habs top 10 prospects:
- #1: Alexander Romanov (LD)
- #2: Cole Caufield (RW)
- #3: Cayden Primeau (G)
- #4: Mattais Norlinder (LD)
- #5: Jesse Ylonen (RW)
- #6: Ryan Poehling (C)
- #7: Jordan Harris (LD)
- #8: Jayden Struble (LD)
- #9: Josh Brook (RD)
- #10: Cam Hillis
- HM: Jacob Olofsson (C)
Trades/Free Agent Options
So far this off-season the Canadiens have made two trades, adding a pair of 2019 Stanley Cup champions.
First trade saw Montreal acquire goaltender Jake Allen and a 2022 7th round pick from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for a 2020 3rd round pick and a 2020 7th round pick.
The second trade saw the Canadiens acquire defenceman Joel Edmundson from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a 2020 5th round pick.
As I was getting ready to post this, the Habs announced they have signed Edmundson, who was set to be a UFA, to a 4 year contract worth $3.5 million AAV.
The next thing the Habs need to add is scoring, and there are a handful of options they could consider on the free agent market. Here are four players that Montreal should take a look at:
- Mike Hoffman: 69 GP, 29 G, 30 A, 59 PTS.
- Mikael Granlund: 63 GP, 17 G, 13 A, 30 PTS.
- Taylor Hall: 65 GP, 16 G, 36 A, 52 PTS.
- Vladislav Namestnikov: 65 GP, 17 G, 14 A, 31 PTS.
Bold Predictions
With the amount of assets the Canadiens have like a ton of draft picks, deep prospect pool, etc, they should be in the market to make a big, bold move.
Winnipeg has reportedly put forward Nikolaj Ehlers on waivers. Ehlers put up 58 points (25 G, 33 A), 30 PIMS, and was a +14 in 71 games this season.
The Habs have 11 picks in the 2020 draft (4 in the first 2 rounds), 11 in the 2021 draft, and 8 in the 2022 draft.
They have two players, Max Domi and Victor Mete, who are RFA’s. Domi had a tough year, failing to repeat his success he found in the 2018-19 season, and Mete will likely fall victim to losing his spot on the Habs d-core due to the bountiful of depth the Habs have on the back-end.
So now you have the backstory, here’s the trade proposal I would suggest for a possible deal between the Canadiens and Jets.
- To Montreal: Nikolaj Ehlers.
- To Winnipeg: Max Domi, Victor Mete, and a 2020 2nd round pick.
On the free agent front, I think the Habs are going to make a big splash. I could see Montreal going out and making a competitive offer to sign Mike Hoffman somewhere in the range of 4 years at 6-6.75 AAV. Of course to make both my predictions possible, other moves to create cap space will have to be made.
2020-21 Lineup
Finally, with the predictions I’ve made, here is roughly what the Canadiens lineup could look like come opening night for the 2020-21 season.
- First Line: Hoffman-Suzuki-Tatar
- Second Line: Ehlers-Kotkaniemi-Gallagher
- Third Line: Drouin-Danault-Lehkonen
- Fourth Line: Byron-Poehling-Armia
- On the cusp: Hudon, Evans.
- First pairing: Chiarot-Weber
- Second Pairing: Edmundson-Petry
- Third Pairing: Romanov-Juulsen
- On the cusp: Kulak, Fleury.
- Starting goalie: Carey Price
- Backup: Jake Allen
As I mentioned in the beginning of this article, this is my first post in over a month, so I hope you enjoy it. Thanks as always for reading, and sharing, I really appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs!
-Cooper.