How would the Montreal Canadiens fair in an all-Canadian division?

There’s been constant talk of the possibility of a Canadian Division within the NHL, at the very least, to start the 2020-21 season. We still don’t know what the guidelines are going to be in January when the NHL plans on starting, which could still include strict travelling policies between Canada and the United States. That could heavily get in the way of playing time during the regular season. Hence country-specific divisions.

This started with a tweet in response to the Nate Schmidt to Vancouver deal last week.

https://twitter.com/DavidSchoenLVRJ/status/1316475738682400768

Ever since this tweet, talk of. a Canadian division has run wild, and a lot of it makes sense.

What if this ends up being the case? What if instead of having to worry about the Canadian teams in the Atlantic division, the Montreal Canadiens also need to focus on the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, and Winnipeg Jets?

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The Habs have definitely improved on paper. There’s cautious optimism when it comes to Anderson, but he’s shown signs of being the perfect player who the organization has wanted for years. The growth of Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi should be another thing to look out for, and in Toffoli, the team has a legitimate scoring threat.

Of course, there is the elephant in the room: the power of Carey Price and Jake Allen. This is where the Montreal Canadiens can do some serious damage.

The playoffs proved the impact of a healthy Price. The team came together to play responsible and effective hockey at times, but a lot of those early games came off the ridiculous play of their number one goaltender. With Allen in the fold, Price should be able to have more of those games throughout the season, and the city of Montreal has seen where the team can go when 31 goes legendary mode.