Canadiens: What Has to Happen For Habs to Make Playoffs Next Season?

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The Montreal Canadiens were the first team eliminated from postseason contention this season.

A year ago, they were in the Stanley Cup Final.

So, things can change quickly around the National Hockey League.

Some teams do contend for a long period of time, like the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins. Others appear hopeless for many years like the Arizona Coyotes and Buffalo Sabres. Some, like the Toronto Maple Leafs just find a way to lose in the opening round of the postseason every single year.

But not everything is so predictable in this league. Not many would have picked the Vegas Golden Knights to make the Stanley Cup Final in its inaugural season. No one was picking the Los Angeles Kings to have home ice in the opening round of this year’s playoffs. The Nashville Predators were supposed to fall in the standings after trading Viktor Arvidsson, Ryan Ellis and losing Pekka Rinne to retirement.

But things just aren’t that predictable in the NHL. Many are going to pick the Canadiens to struggle once again next season after a disastrous 2021-22. But are the Habs doomed to fail again next season?

Not necessarily. They can surprise many and compete for a playoff spot as soon as next season. A few things are going to have to go right for this to happen.

What exactly has to occur for the Canadiens to return to the postseason in a year? Let’s count down the top five.

PETERBOROUGH, ON – JANUARY 27: Shane Wright (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

Win the Draft Lottery

The first domino that needs to fall in order to get the Canadiens right back into the playoffs is winning the draft lottery.

The NHL is yet to announce when exactly this will take place, but it usually happens during the first round of the playoffs. This year, that will be some time in the first two weeks of May since he regular season doesn’t end until April 30th.

The Canadiens have been at, or very near, the bottom of the NHL standings all season. They are definitely going to get a high pick, but the first overall pick would give them the biggest boost for next season.

Shane Wright is certain to the be taken first overall and he is going to step right into the NHL next season. He is a smart, skilled, two-way centre who has 28 goals and 84 points in 58 games for the Kingston Frontenacs of the OHL. It is not just his offensive numbers that are impressive, as his defensive game is just as polished. Wright is a go-to guy for a stacked Frontenacs team when penalties need to be killed and big face-offs need to be won.

He might not score a point per game at the NHL level next season, but his smarts and skill will ensure he is an impact player right away. Having him down the middle with Nick Suzuki, Christian Dvorak and Ryan Poehling would give the Habs incredible young depth at centre.

Mar 13, 2022; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Montreal Canadiens right wing Joel Armia. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports /

Clear Cap Space

Before the Canadiens can go about upgrading the roster in the offseason, they will need to make room under the salary cap.

For next season, the Canadiens have already committed over $82.4 million in salary. The cap for next season is set at $82.5 million so, according to capfriendly.com the Canadiens have about $80,000 to spend in the offseason.

Now, that includes Shea Weber’s contract which will either be traded or added to LTIR, which means the Habs really have about $8 million in cap space. That is a decent number, but the Canadiens are going to need a big splash if they are going to contend next season.

To get some real flexibility in the offseason, the Canadiens need to clear out another big contract or two. Jeff Petry may be on the way out, but it remains to be seen how much cap space that will actually clear up. Yes, he makes $6.25 million, but it sounds like it has been difficult to get someone to take that full hit.

Do the Canadiens need to eat some of that cap hit? Do they have to take back a bad contract in a trade? Probably. So moving that $6.25 million contract might not save as much cap space as it appears.

Where the Habs need to save some money is up front. More specifically, on the wing. Right now, they have Rem Pitlick playing on the top line with Cole Caufield. If everyone were healthy, Jonathan Drouin would probably be on the second line with Josh Anderson.

That leaves Brendan Gallagher, Joel Armia, Mike Hoffman and Paul Byron as the team’s bottom six wingers. Those four players earn a combined $17.8 million against the cap next season. That’s just way too much to pay your bottom six wingers.

If the Habs can find takers for Armia and Hoffman, they would clear out almost another $8 million in cap space and really have some freedom to improve the roster.

NEWARK, NJ – MARCH 27: Cole Caufield #22 of the Montreal Canadiens and Nick Suzuki. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Getty Images) /

Joshua Roy clicks on top line

It would be tempting to go sign a big fish free agent like Johnny Gaudreau after dealing away Armia and Hoffman to save cap space. However, the Canadiens will be much better off if a younger, cheaper player clicks on the top line.

The best teams around the league the past few seasons are led by an incredible first line. The Boston Bruins have the Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak trio. The Avs have MacKinnon between Landeskog and Rantanen. The Lightning play Brayden Point with Nikita Kucherov and it isn’t even fair they are allowed to have a third player on the line.

The Canadiens have a great duo with Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki clicking this season. But they need a third member to join that line and score like a legit first line NHL talent. Josh Anderson looked good there for a little while and Rem Pitlick fits fine, but they don’t score near a point per game like Suzuki and Caufield have been.

The Canadiens need another elite offensive talent on the top line to give them a terrific scoring threat every night. That player might be in the system already, but he needs to surprise in training camp to show he is ready for a big role at the NHL level right now.

Joshua Roy was a 5th round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft but he has quickly shown he should have been selected much earlier. The 18 year old winger has scored 97 points in 53 games in the QMJHL this season and is leading the league in points.

If Roy can click on a line with Suzuki and Caufield in training camp, it would give the Canadiens an elite scoring line that would provide offence on a nightly basis.

Feb 26, 2022; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Kris Letang. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /

Fix the blue line

Adding Shane Wright and Joshua Roy to the top six would give the Canadiens some very cheap, elite talent for the next three seasons. Moving out Armia and/or Hoffman would save them plenty of cap space as well.

Spending that cap space on the blue line would be the best investment.

If Petry is traded, the Canadiens will enter the offseason with veterans Joel Edmundson and David Savard locked up. They also have Alexander Romanov, though he is a restricted free agent and need a new contract.

Then there is Justin Barron and Jordan Harris, but they haven’t cemented themselves as fixtures on an NHL blue line just yet. They have both looked quite good in a short stint, but let’s not rush them into top four roles.

Kaiden Guhle, Mattias Norlinder, Arber Xhekaj and maybe Jayden Struble are on their way to the pro ranks next season, but rushing them into NHL roles isn’t going to be the best thing for their development.

Investing in a few short term veterans on the blue line would make a lot of sense. It would help the team compete next season, but also allow the young defenders to develop with the Laval Rocket for the season.

Specifically, the Canadiens could use help on the right side. If they enter next season with Romanov, Edmundson and Harris on the left side, that is fine. But if Petry gets his wish and it traded, the team has Savard and Barron as right defensemen.

Kris Letang has been rumoured to be of interest to Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes, who was Letang’s agent before taking over the Habs. The veteran right shooting defender has 60 points in 67 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins this season, but if a free agent this summer.

Convincing the 35 year old to sign a lucrative two-year contract would help the Canadiens compete for a playoff spot next season, but also not block young defenders like Barron and Logan Mailloux for several years.

Signing another right defender like Justin Braun or Erik Gudbranson on a one-year deal to play third pairing minutes and guide a youngster like Harris would be a sound investment as well. They are still capable of playing steady minutes at even strength and can help out on the penalty kill as well.

Jul 5, 2021; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports /

Carey Price returns to form

The biggest thing that needs to go right for the Canadiens next season is the health of Carey Price.

Drafting Wright, a breakout season from Roy, and an improved blue line would really help, but it would be for naught if Price is battling injuries for most of the season once again. We are in the month of April now and still waiting for the goaltender to make his season debut.

Price’s recent regular season’s haven’t been his best as he had a save percentage below .910 in three of the past four seasons. But he did show in the past two postseasons that he can still carry a team throughout a long playoff run.

With Jake Allen signed to back him up next season, a healthy Price would only be asked to play 50 regular season games or so and would be able to play rested and healthy throughout the season. That would be enough to allow his numbers to creep back up a little higher, but an improved blue line, and an offence that sustains pressure far from the Habs net would be quite beneficial as well.

It sounds like Price is nearing a return this season, which would allow him to have a full offseason to prepare for the 2022-23 season. If he can play the way he did throughout the 2021 postseason for 50 games next season, and Allen comes on in relief every third game or so, the Canadiens would make a very real push for a playoff spot once again next season.

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