Will the Montreal Canadiens ever regret the Josh Anderson trade?

3) Who in the Montreal Canadiens organization, aside from Claude Julien and Marc Bergevin, are on their last legs here?

KK: If I were to pick a player, it would be Joel Armia. The Habs can keep their current roster and squeeze in under the cap, and I think they will do that. However, with Tyler Toffoli and Josh Anderson in town now and Brendan Gallagher signing an enormous new contract, and Cole Caufield likely to begin the 2021-22 season in Montreal, where does Armia fit next season? He will be a UFA at season’s end and will find a better opportunity elsewhere.

TE: This season will likely be Kirk Muller‘s last chance to fix the powerplay. Despite his friendship with Claude, he deserves to be on a short leash this season if the PP doesn’t markedly improve. There’s no reason the powerplay should be a bottom-feeder this season as the team finally has the players available to make it click. If it doesn’t happen, Kirk needs to pack his bags. I will also say Geoff Molson, not that he’ll ever step down from his position, but he needs to hire someone to run the hockey ops. Molson is first and foremost a businessman, and the Habs are his most prized asset. He should do the right thing and get someone to help run the team.

S: Honestly, in terms of front-office staff, I don’t think anyone is on their last legs. If Trevor Timmins was going to be fired, it would have been in 2015 or 2016, when the prospect pool was barren, not in 2020 when the Habs have one of the most highly-touted pools in the league and fairly-recent draftees cracking the starting lineup. The coaching staff seems fairly secure. Despite the power-plays struggles, Kirk Muller is a key member of the coaching staff and coached very well against the Flyers when Julien was sick. Ducharme isn’t going anywhere unless he’s offered a head-coaching position elsewhere, ditto with Joel Bouchard, and Brad Richardson is beloved by the Habs’ defencemen while Stephane Waite seems to have quite a bit of job security.

Amongst the notable Habs players, the clear standout that is likely on his last legs in the organization is Tomas Tatar. The Montreal Canadiens will simply not have the cap space to bring him back unless he takes a big discount or the Habs make a few significant moves to free up space. Joel Armia is another player that could very well be entering his final season as a Hab, as much as it pains me to say. With Cole Caufield likely joining the Habs next season, the right-wing will be packed and resigning Armia may just be a luxury that Bergevin cannot afford.