Montreal Canadiens regulars risk being pushed to press box this season.
Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin was very busy adding talent this offseason.
Without subtracting much from his lineup outside of Max Domi, the Habs manager brought in Jake Allen, Joel Edmundson, Alexander Romanov, Josh Anderson, Tyler Toffoli, Corey Perry and Michael Frolik.
Allen, Edmundson and Anderson were brought in via trade, Romanov was signed and brought over from the KHL after being drafted in 2018 and Toffoli, Perry and Frolik were all free agent signings. Obviously, Bergevin left no stone unturned in his pursuit of improving this team for the upcoming season.
That season will look a lot different than any other we have seen in the past. First of all, the Canadiens will play in an all Canadian division this season. They will also play a 56 game schedule that begins on January 13, and will wrap up on May 8 before the postseason begins. They will play their home games at the Bell Centre, but with zero fans in attendance, at least to begin the season.
It is going to be a different looking season for sure. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.
We will get our first look at this year’s version of the Canadiens tomorrow, when the Habs begin training camp. All the newcomers will be watched closely, but an interesting consequence of adding so many new faces without subtracting many is that some of the regulars from last year’s lineup won’t have a guaranteed spot on this year’s roster.
So, who was pretty much a given that they would dress if healthy last year but will need to prove themselves worthy of keeping that roster spot this season?
Let’s take a look at three players who won’t be nearly as comfortable tomorrow as they were during the postseason in August.