The Montreal Canadiens are officially set for the 2016-17 season as they made their final roster announcement before the season kicks off in Buffalo tonight.
The Montreal Canadiens made their final roster adjustments before the 2016-17 National Hockey League season gets underway. The Habs will take on the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night to open the campaign, and have a much different looking roster than one year ago.
The 2015-16 version of Habs opening-night lineup was headlined by Tomas Plekanec, Max Pacioretty and Brendan Gallagher on the top line. Also featured was newcomer Alex Semin in the top six, with Lars Eller and Alex Galchenyuk. PTO invite Tomas Fleischmann was on the third line with David Desharnais and Dale Weise, while Torrey Mitchell centered the fourth unit with Devante Smith-Pelly and Brian Flynn.
Gone are Semin, who hardly lasted a month, Eller, Fleischmann, Weise and Smith-Pelly.
Semin and Eller are replaced in the top six by Alex Radulov and Artturi Lehkonen, a major offensive upgrade by anyone’s standards. Desharnais will now be flanked on the third trio by youngster Daniel Carr and two-time Stanley Cup winner Andrew Shaw. Paul Byron steps in to play a fourth line and penalty-killing role.
Top six players failed to live up to hype last year
Semin scored just one goal and five points in 15 games with the Habs last season, while Eller finished with 26 points in 79 contests. A combined 41 points from two guys who were penciled in to be top six contributors on opening night tells you everything you need to know about the Habs depth of scoring last season.
Radulov steps into that role after finishing second in the KHL in scoring with 65 points a year ago. Lehkonen will be in Eller’s role from a year ago and led Sweden’s top league in playoff goal scoring with 11 goals in 16 games.
Not only will Radulov and Lehkonen score more than Semin and Eller’s combined 41 points last season, the new Habs will almost certainly score more than 41 goals if they remain healthy.
Fleischmann and Weise started the season hot, but were ultimately dealt to the Chicago Blackhawks as the Canadiens stumbled down the stretch. Both played minimal roles in the Hawks first round playoff loss to the St. Louis Blues.
Carr and Shaw will play a pestering style of game that will make the Habs a difficult team to play against. Both have the ability to play a sound defensive game while chipping in 15 goals.
One major change on blue line, but solid supporting case remains
On the blue line, the Canadiens most obvious change is Shea Weber taking over the role as number one defender from P.K. Subban. Andrei Markov, Nathan Beaulieu, Alexei Emelin and Jeff Petry will join Weber on the back end and all four were mainstays last season.
Tom Gilbert missed the second half of last season with injury and was relaced with Greg Pateryn who will become a regular contributor this season. Free agent signing Zach Redmond also makes the roster and will battle Pateryn for ice time on the right side of the third pairing.
The biggest surprise on the roster is 18 year old Mikhail Sergachev. The ninth overall pick in the June draft had a tremendous preseason and will be the first 18 year old defender on the Canadiens team since Petr Svoboda in 1984.
It remains to be seen if Sergachev will be in Montreal all season, but with Petry nursing an injury, the smooth skating Russian defender will be on the team when the puck drops in Buffalo.
With Price in goal, this team can go far
The Canadiens can breathe a sigh of relief as Carey Price returns in goal after missing nearly four months with injury last season. Price is the best goaltender and hockey player on te planet. Montreal went from the best team in the league to the worst after he was hurt and are playoff contenders again with Price in goal.
Mike Condon was claimed off waivers by the Pittsburgh Penguins this morning, leaving the backup duties to Al Montoya. The American netminder was signed in the offseason to play this role and gives the Canadiens a more seasoned veteran behind Price in case of emergency this year.
On day one of the 2016-17 season, it appears the Canadiens will be a more offensive team with the additions of Radulov along with youngsters Carr, Lehkonen and Shaw.
Galchenyuk centring the top line for a full year will prove beneficial
Also not to be understated is the emergence of Galchenyuk as the number one center. Galchenyuk finally made the move to center full time late last season and then finished the year with 16 goals in his last 22 games.
The biggest question for the Habs is how will the Weber for Subban deal work out this year? It’s obvious that Subban is much more flashy, but Weber is no offensive slouch himself having scored 21 goals last season.
Weber’s booming slapshot, physicality and defensive play will be fun for Habs fans to watch and not so fun for Habs opponents to play against. Add in puck moving types in Beaulieu, Markov and Petry with a little more sandpaper in Emelin and Pateryn and the Habs blue line has a lot of depth.
With Price back in goal, there is no question the Canadiens will be a playoff team again. The question for the Canadiens this season is, can the upgrades on offense lead them to a long, playoff run?