Montreal Canadiens: Former Habs Helping New Teams Find Success in Playoffs

The Montreal Canadiens were further from the playoffs than any other team in the league. But, players who used to be on the Habs are doing quite well so far in the 2022 postseason.

The Canadiens have gone through quite a facelift between now and the end of the 2021 Stanley Cup Final. Eleven of the 22 players who played in the Stanley Cup Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning are no longer on the team.

That’s wild, considering it was just ten months ago that the Habs were in the final round of the playoffs. A couple more of those players could be on the way out this offseason as well. It has been basically a complete reset in a very short time.

Eric Staal and Shea Weber haven’t played in the NHL since last season. Phillip Danault, Corey Perry, Erik Gustafsson, and Jon Merrill left as free agents and Tyler Toffoli, Ben Chiarot, Artturi Lehkonen, and Brett Kulak were traded during this season. Jesperi Kotkaniemi also left via an offer sheet.

Thats 11 players, or half of those who played at all in the final, gone already. Jeff Petry seems to be on the way out soon, Carey Price may have played his final game already and Paul Byron is entering the final year of his contract. There might be nothing left of the 2021 Stanley Cup Final team in no time.

Not only was the Habs awful record this season enough to suffer through, watching the 2022 playoffs gives constant reminders of past Canadiens teams that were far more successful than their most recent one.

Not just in the playoffs, but literally every series. In fact, every single team left in the playoffs has a former member of the Canadiens on it.