Three Former Montreal Canadiens The Habs Should Bring Back Next Season

The Montreal Canadiens season has not gone according to plan.

The team had many us fooled thinking it was a playoff contender, but they sit at the bottom of the Eastern Conference as we approach the trade deadline.

There will be changes, and we saw them beginning already.

The Canadiens traded veteran winger Tyler Toffoli to the Calgary Flames for a package that included prospect Emil Heineman and a first round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. We are sure to see more similar deals in the coming days as veterans move out and draft picks and prospects join the organization in their place.

Surely Ben Chiarot will be traded. Chris Wideman, Brett Kulak, Mathieu Perreault and Cedric Paquette are all unrestricted free agents after this season so they will likely be gone too.

If not by the trade deadline, then certainly by season’s end when their contract is up. Jeff Petry, and Artturi Lehkonen have had their names bouncing around the rumour mill for quite some time as well. They could also be gone by the trade deadline, if not the offseason, and it is possible players like Mike Hoffman and Christian Dvorak end up on other teams before next season begins.

The big questions leading up to the trade deadline will be about who is leaving?

But on the heels of that, other players need to step into those roster spots. You can’t just trade away Petry, Chiarot, Kulak and Wideman and not bring anyone in next season to replace them.

If another winger gets traded like Toffoli did, the team could use some help on the wings. Teams can never have too many centres either and the Habs need someone to step into a top nine role in addition to Nick Suzuki and Dvorak.

They could use help everywhere by the start of next season and are going to have to leave no stone unturned to get it.

These three former Montreal Canadiens players would make a lot of sense to bring back for a second term.