Montreal Canadiens: Change is in the Wind for Montreal’s Core

The Montreal Canadiens qualified for the playoffs with the worst record among any team in the tournament. Social media outlets were filled with posts reading, “Leafs in four”, “Jets in four”, and “Knights in four”. Casual fans and analysts alike didn’t seem to put much faith in the Habs’ core players. And mere days removed from a finals appearance, that core seems to be melting down.

Three of Montreal’s six highest-paid players are exposed in the upcoming expansion draft, including franchise legend Carey Price. Price wasn’t at his peak towards the end of the playoffs, but he is the main reason they even got there.

Winger Jonathan Drouin is also going to be exposed, in spite of being acquired for the hefty price of reigning champion Mikhail Sergachev.

Captain Shea Weber is also available for Seattle to pick, but his medicals suggest he won’t be on the ice next year regardless of his team.

Unlike the previous two players, it seems as though Weber won’t suit up for Montreal no matter what. At this point, the bigger question is whether he will ever play again. This is a massive blow to the Canadiens, who were already short on right-handed defenders.

AHL’ers Cale Fleury and Josh Brook showed some promise last year, but neither one of them is anywhere close to eating Shea Weber minutes on a playoff team. If/when Weber lands on LTIR, Montreal will need to use that cap space to address the gaping hole on his side of the blue line.

Pending free-agent Dougie Hamilton will command top dollar as a free agent, but the expansion draft could leave Montreal with plenty of cash to spend, and spending it on him could be reasonable.