Montreal Canadiens: Breaking Down and Ranking Atlantic Division Teams

The Montreal Canadiens just missed the playoffs last season. Making the postseason will not be any easier next year, but the Canadiens have not done enough to keep up in their tough division.

The Montreal Canadiens had a good season in 2018-19. They were expected to miss the playoffs and they did, but by the narrowest of margins. Their 96 points were one of the best seasons ever by a team that did not qualify for the playoffs. In fact, it was only three points less than the St. Louis Blues who won the Stanley Cup.

That’s all well and good and moral victories are neat. However, fans of the Montreal Canadiens aren’t that into moral victories. They are more used to victories on the ice that lead to playoffs and deep postseason runs and Stanley Cup titles.

So the team needs to be better next season. Finishing just outside the playoffs won’t be as tolerated in 2020 as it was in 2019. That would be three straight seasons without a playoff game at the Bell Centre and that is not an option if general manager Marc Bergevin would like to keep his job.

But thus far in the offseason, Bergevin hasn’t really done enough to make the team better. The Atlantic Division was one of, if not the best divisions in hockey last season and it should be just as good next season.

The Canadiens added Ben Chiarot, a second or third pairing defenseman and added some depth pieces like Nick Cousins. However, he dealt Andrew Shaw for a few draft picks and while it was a decent return, it takes away some of the depth at the forward position and weakens the team.

The Canadiens do have a young team, especially at forward. That is a reason to believe that the team could be better just because a lot of their players will take a step forward. Jesperi Kotkaniemi just turned 19, Max Domi and Jonathan Drouin are 24, Victor Mete is 21. All of these players play key roles already and should be better players next year.

But is that enough? Just hoping for internal growth may be a bit risky in the Atlantic Division. Having Carey Price in net can be a huge boost, but it didn’t result in a playoff berth last season. Will it next season?

Let’s break down some of their competition and see if they’ve taken a step back or will they be even better next season.

Tampa Bay Lightning

2018-19 record: 62-16-4

Additions:

The Tampa Bay Lightning added some depth pieces in free agency. Their position relative to the salary cap is going to keep them from making any big signings or adding any large salaries via trade. They brought in Luke Schenn, a shutdown hard-nosed right-shot defenseman who can play on the third pair.

They signed Curtis McElhinney in a bit of a surprise move to a two-year deal with a cap hit of $1.3 million. They already had Louis Domingue as their backup and he played well, especially when starter Andrei Vasilevskiy was injured last season. McElhinney has been one of the best backups in the league for the past few seasons and will provide reliable relief for Vasilevskiy next season.

The Lightning also drafted Nolan Foote late in the first round of the NHL Draft, but he is not likely to crack the NHL roster for a couple years.

Departures:

The biggest loss for the Lightning was J.T. Miller who was sent to the Vancouver Canucks for a first round pick, third round pick and Marek Mazanec. Miller is a physical two-way winger who played in every situation for the Lightning and was often on Steven Stamkos wing. He was just a casualty of the salary cap.

They also lost Anton Stralman to cross-state rival Florida Panthers. Stralman had been an excellent shutdown defender for several years but had lost a bit of his effectiveness last season. Still, he played a big role on the team’s blue line and will be missed as he averaged over 20 minutes per game last season.

The Lightning lost a little more depth as well in Dan Girardi and Ryan Callahan. A couple of former New York Rangers who aren’t the same players they once were. Callahan was a frequent healthy scratch and Girardi a depth defender who is replaced by Schenn.

Projected Lines:

Palat – Point – Kucherov

Gourde – Stamkos – Johnson

Killorn – Cirelli – Joseph

Martel – Paquette – Erne

Hedman – Cernak

McDonagh – Sergachev

Coburn – Schenn

Vasilevskiy

Overview:

The Lightning won’t win as much as last season because no team in the history of hockey has won more than 62 games. They lost a few pieces in Miller and Stralman but still have Hart Trophy contender Nikita Kucherov, Norris contender Victor Hedman and Vezina contender Andrei Vasilevskiy to build around. They’ll win the division again. It would take a minor miracle for the Habs to be able to finish above the Lightning next season.

Boston Bruins

2018-19 record: 49-24-9

Additions:

None, really. Brett Ritchie signed a one-year deal at $1 million and could play a depth role. Par Lindholm also signed with the Bruins but is likely to be their fifth center. They didn’t bring in any new defenders and will be going with the same tandem of Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak in net.

Subtractions:

Marcus Johnansson came over at the trade deadline and played well for the Bruins in the postseason on the third line and power play. He left to sign a two-year contract with the Buffalo Sabres. Noel Acciari was a good piece for the fourth line and he left town to play for division rival Florida Panthers.

Projected Lines:

Marchand – Bergeron – Pastrnak

Debrusk – Krejci – Heinen

Nordstrom – Coyle – Kuhlman

Wagner – Kuraly – Backes

Chara – McAvoy

Krug – Carlo

Moore – Grzelcyk

Rask

Overview:

This team will be almost the exact same on paper as the team that made it to the Stanley Cup Final this year. That’s usually a good thing, but the Bruins core pieces are getting older. Bergeron and Krejci are 33, Marchand is 31, Chara is 42 and Rask is 32.

They were able to sustain their endurance all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, so I can’t imagine they will disappear next season, but their could be a bit of a hangover for some of their older, important pieces.

However, almost the entire team remains intact so they will still be a solid team in the regular season. Maybe a few less wins and a few less points than the 107 they had this season but they should be comfortably in the postseason once again in 2020.

It will be difficult for the Canadiens to make up the 11 point difference between themselves and the Bruins from last season’s standings. Chances are very high that the Bruins finish above the Habs once again based on their strong roster.

Toronto Maple Leafs

2018-19 record: 46-28-8

Additions:

The Maple Leafs made a blockbuster trade with the Colorado Avalanche that brought them Alex Kerfoot and Tyson Barrie. Kerfoot is a 24 year old center who scored 43 and 42 points in his two NHL seasons thus far in Colorado. He is likely to slot in as the third center behind Auston Matthews and John Tavares.

He should have decent linemates, including either William Nylander or Kasperi Kapanen, but he won’t get quite the same role he played with the Avalanche where he was the second center. Still, Kerfoot is a skilled player that is versatile enough to slide up and play on Matthews or Tavares wing if necessary.

Barrie is an offensive defenseman who scored a career high 59 points last season for the Avs. He is set to become an unrestricted free agent next summer so he will be highly motivated to hit the open market with maximum value. He is a right handed defender that the Maple Leafs desperately needed and should play a huge role at five on five and on the power play.

The Leafs also made a few depth signings of Nick Shore, Jason Spezza and Kenny Agostino to play fourth line minutes. Cody Ceci was brought over in a trade for Nikita Zaitsev which looks like a cap dump by the Leafs. Ceci fell out of favour in Ottawa after being protected over Marc Methot in the expansion draft two year ago.

Maybe a fresh start a few hours down the road will help the right shot defenseman fulfill some of the potential that saw him drafted 15th overall in 2012. The Leafs also signed Ilya Mikheyev out of the KHL, a 24 year old winger who scored 45 points in 62 games in Russia last season.

Departures:

The Leafs were victims of the salary cap system that does not reward winning teams in the NHL. They had to allow Jake Gardiner and Ron Hainsey to walk via free agency, which is a huge blow to their blue line. They also dealt Zaitsev to the Senators for Ceci. That’s three of their top five defensemen gone from a year ago.

They were also forced to send Patrick Marleau to the Carolina Hurricanes in a cap dump. Connor Brown was traded to the Senators with Zaitsev. Tyler Ennis, Par Lindholm and Igor Ozhiganov were allowed to leave via free agency but only played depth roles.

The biggest departure is Nazem Kadri. He was pushed to the third line when Tavares showed up in Toronto but he still played on the top power play, killed penalties, scored points and played a nasty, gritty style that not many others on the team can mimic.

Mitch Marner remains unsigned as a restricted free agent but they are likely to get something done with their star forward.

Projected lines:

Hyman – Tavares – Marner

Johnsson – Matthews – Kapanen

Mikheyev – Kerfoot – Nylander

Petan – Spezza – Moore

Rielly – Barrie

Muzzin – Ceci

Dermott – Harper

Andersen

Overview:

A lot of changes but mostly filling holes that were opened up by players leaving. Kadri is replaced by Kerfoot which is a step down. Marleau is replaced by Mikheyev and we will see how that works out as Mikheyev tries to make the transition from KHL to NHL scorer.

Hainsey, Gardiner and Zaitsev are replaced by Barrie, Ceci and Harper. The Leafs blue line already was not a strength and it might have become worse. Hainsey played a huge role last season and Gardiner’s skating and puck moving abilities will be missed by the Leafs highly skilled forwards. Barrie and Ceci can not defend the same way Hainsey did, but Barrie’s offence will outweigh what Gardiner brought.

Overall, an offensively gifted group that struggled defensively got better offensively and worse defensively. General manager Kyle Dubas keeps building this team as one that will be dangerous when it has the puck and more dangerous when it doesn’t.

The top six forwards and goaltending remain the same. However, the bottom six forwards are likely a little worse and the defense does not look as good as it was last season. The Leafs only finished four points ahead of the Habs last season and will be in a tight race with the Canadiens once again next year.

Buffalo Sabres

2018-19 record: 33-39-10

Additions:

The Buffalo Sabres were active this offseason trying to upgrade the team that was so good in the first half of the season, and so, so bad in the second half. They had a ten game winning streak early on and seemed like a lock to make the playoffs. They finished the year with just 76 points, 20 behind the Habs and 22 back of the final playoff spot.

They made signings and trades to improve their roster and used the draft as well to add help for the future. The Sabres traded a third round pick to the New York Rangers for winger Jimmy Vesey. The Boston native can play either wing and scored 17 goals and 35 points last year with the Rangers.

Buffalo signed another winger in Marcus Johansson who just had a great postseason for the Boston Bruins. He battled injuries the past two seasons, but scored 13 goals and 30 points in 58 games last year. Before injuries began to take their toll, Johansson scored 24 goals and 58 points with the Washington Capitals in 2016-17.

The Sabres also added depth to their blue line by trading for Colin Miller and Henri Jokiharju. Miller is a depth defender who struggled last season with the Vegas Golden Knights but could be a fit on the third pairing.

Jokiharju was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks for Alex Nylander. Jokiharju was taken with the 29th pick in the 2017 NHL Draft and showed flashes of top four potential with the Blackhawks last season.

Dylan Cozens was drafted 7th overall after scoring 84 points in 68 games for the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the Western Hockey League. The Yukon native has a chance to make the team out of training camp but is likely ticketed back to Lethbridge for another season.

Departures:

The Sabres were able to retain their biggest free agent in Jeff Skinner with a whopping eight-year, $72 million contract. They did not re-sign Jason Pominville who is still a free agent after scoring 16 goals and 31 points for the Sabres last season. Other than that, basically everyone is back from last season.

Projected Lines:

Skinner – Eichel – Reinhart

Vesey – Mittelstadt – Johansson

Sheary – Girgensons – Okposo

Rodrigues – Larsson – Thompson

Dahlin – Montour

Scandella – Ristolainen

McCabe – Bogosian

Hutton

Overview:

The Sabres biggest upgrades came on right defence, but Miller might battle Zach Bogosian for playing time on the bottom pairing and Jokiharju might have to play in the minors a little more before becoming a contributor at the big league level. He has huge upside and potential, but at 20 years old may need more time to develop first.

Their top line remains the same as last season and that is fine as Eichel, Skinner and Reinhart scored at will after being placed together. Johansson and Vesey improve their second line which will certainly improve the team’s scoring next season. They have a plethora of right defenseman and could possibly move one of them to further improve their forwards as well.

Where the team did not improve is in goal and that could prove costly. Carter Hutton and Linus Ullmark combined for the league’s 21st ranked save percentage. The team’s 23rd ranked offence should improve, but coming back with the same goaltenders won’t help them stop more pucks.

The Sabres were a long way from the playoff picture last season. Until they can find someone that will stop pucks with a greater frequency, they will remain on the outside looking in when the postseason begins and shouldn’t be a threat to the Canadiens in the standings.

Detroit Red Wings

2018-19 record: 32-40-10

Additions:

The Red Wings made a few minor additions this offseason but have elected to continue to build through the draft and let their prospects develop instead of trying to find quick fixes in free agency. They did bring back Valtteri Filppula to provide a little depth at center. He scored 31 points last season and 33 the year before so he isn’t likely to carry the team to a postseason berth next season.

They also added veteran defenseman Patrik Nemeth to help play some shutdown minutes and be a steady presence for the younger defenders like Filip Hronek and Dennis Cholowski. Both Filppula and Nemeth signed identical two-year deals with cap hits of $3 million.

Departures:

Thomas Vanek leaves Detroit again after scoring 36 points in 64 games last season. Gustav Nyquist and Nick Jensen were shipped out at the trade deadline last season. Niklas Kronwall has been a mainstay on the Wings blue line for over a decade but it appears his time may be done as injuries keep piling up for the 38 year old.

The Wings will miss the scoring of Vanek and Nyquist, and although Kronwall’s effectiveness was lessened over the years, they will also his miss physical presence and leadership on the back end.

Projected Lines:

Bertuzzi – Larkin – Mantha

Athanasiou – Nielsen – Abdelkader

Rasmussen – Filppula – Hirose

Helm – Glendenning – De la Rose

DeKeyser – Hronek

Nemeth – Green

Cholowski – Daley

Howard

Overview:

The Wings will need big jumps in production from their youngest players in order to make a playoff push next season. They do have an impressive crop of young forwards, led by Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha, Andreas Athanasiou and Tyler Bertuzzi. They also have good looking prospects coming in Filip Zadina and Joe Veleno but 2019-20 just doesn’t appear to be their year.

The Red Wings might improve on their 74 point season in 2018-19, especially if goaltender Jimmy Howard and Jonathan Bernier can bounce back from tough seasons. Still, they won’t be making a playoff push for a couple of years, and should finish in the Montreal Canadiens rearview mirror next season.

Ottawa Senators

2018-19 record: 29-47-6

Additions:

Eugene Melnyk said late last season that the Toronto Maple Leafs wouldn’t compete for a Stanley Cup because someone forgot to build them a defence. Then he went out and acquired two of the Maple Leafs top four defenders from last season.

Ron Hainsey was signed to a one-year contract and Nikita Zaitsev arrived in a trade with Connor Brown from the provincial rivals. Other than that, the Senators were quiet when it came to additions, leaving room for their young players and prospects to play bigger roles next season.

Departures:

Well, they shipped out most of their scoring forwards by the trade deadline. Matt Duchene, Mark Stone and Ryan Dzingel all left town in various trades last season. They also let Brian Gibbons walk after he scored 14 points in 20 games to end the season in Ottawa.

On defence, Cody Ceci and Ben Harper were sent to Toronto, which basically opened the roster spots for Hainsey and Zaitsev.

Projected Lines:

Tkachuk – White – Batherson

Duclair – Tierney – Ryan

Smith – Pageau – Brown

Boedker – Paul – Balcers

Chabot – Hainsey

Brannstrom – Zaitsev

Boroweicki – DeMelo

Anderson

Overview:

The Senators are in for another long season. They have interesting young players and prospects like Brady Tkachuk, Thomas Chabot and Erik Brannstrom. However, they just don’t have enough depth nor did they make enough changes in the offseason to make them a much better team. They finished last season with just 64 points and won’t have Stone, Duchene or Dzingel for the first half of next year. They might actually drop below 60 points next season.

Montreal Canadiens

2018-19 record: 44-30-8

Additions:

The Canadiens added some depth at the forward position, but no one that is likely to play a top nine role. They signed Nick Cousins, Riley Barber and Phil Varone but they are all likely to play more games with the Laval Rocket than the Montreal Canadiens.

They did sign Ben Chiarot to a three-year contract to play left defence. He is a solid defensive presence that could fit in nicely with Jeff Petry on the second pairing. He is not going to score many points, but will help out on the penalty kill and could play with Shea Weber against tough opposition when trying to protect a lead in the third period.

Keith Kinkaid is also a newcomer after inking a one-year deal to be Carey Price’s backup.

Departures:

Andrew Shaw was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks and Nicolas Deslauriers was dealt to the Anaheim Ducks. Jordie Benn signed with the Vancouver Canucks in free agency and Antti Niemi heads back to Finland to play next season.

Projected Lines:

Tatar – Danault – Gallagher

Drouin – Domi – Armia

Byron – Kotkaniemi – Lehkonen

Cousins – Poehling – Weal

Mete – Weber

Chiarot – Petry

Kulak – Juulsen

Price

Overview:

Is this team any better than the one that just missed the playoffs last year? Shaw scored 47 points in 63 games last season and is gone. Benn was a good third pairing defender and he is out. They are replaced by Chiarot who makes the defence better slightly, but it is hard to argue that the forwards will produce more next season than they did last season.

There is no way this team will be able to keep up with the Tampa Bay Lightning next year. They will also have a hard time reeling in the Boston Bruins as well. I would say they are on par with the Florida Panthers and will be battling the Panthers and Leafs for third place in the Atlantic Division next season. Third place in the division in a coveted guaranteed playoff spot.

Dropping to fourth or fifth in the division and the Habs would be battling for a wildcard spot with teams from the Metropolitan Division as well. That would result in a high likelihood that the team ends up pretty much where they did this season when they barely missed out to the Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets for the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.

The inability to add a left defenceman that can play top pairing minutes with Weber, or find a goal scoring winger that can help their power play from falling to 30th overall again next season could see the Habs missing the playoffs for the third straight season. There is still time to upgrade the team before next season and hopefully Marc Bergevin does or his job could be at risk at the end of the season.