The Montreal Canadiens are gearing up for a better 2022-23 season, and have just released the numbers of the new players that will be in town.
While they haven’t been all that busy in free agency, a couple of trades involving Shea Weber and Jeff Petry have resulted in new talent arriving in Montreal this offseason. Of course, they did also have the first overall pick and he needs a jersey number.
Juraj Slafkovsky elected to go with #20 for the Canadiens. It is the same number he wore on the national stage at the Olympics and World Championships, and he hopes it will bring him the same luck he had when dominating at those events.
It has been a long time since we saw someone dominate in Montreal with the #20. Since Richard Zednik wore it from 2001-06 the jersey number has been passed around from one depth player to another on an annual basis with little success.
Mike Johnson, Bryan Smolinkski, Robert Lang, Jay Leach, Ryan O’Byrne, James Wisniewski, Colby Armstrong, Thomas Vanek, Manny Malhotra, Victor Bartley, Christian Thomas, Zach Redmond, Nic Deslauriers, Cale Fleury and Chris Wideman have all taken turns wearing #20 since 2006.
That is 15 different players in 16 seasons. Let’s hope the first overall pick can find a little more stability in Montreal with the number.
Wideman switched from #20 to #6 for next season, allowing the rookie to have his number when he makes his NHL debut. Kirby Dach will be wearing #77, Mike Matheson has taken #8 and Evgeni Dadonov will wear his familiar #63 for the Canadiens next season.
The #6 was vacated by Shea Weber, Ben Chiarot was the last to wear #8, Brett Kulak wore #77 last season, and Matthew Peca was the last player to wear #63 for the Canadiens.
Pierre-Luc Dubois will be the first player to wear #80 since…. oh, sorry. Getting ahead of myself. When he signs in 2024 as a free agent, Dubois will be the first player to wear #80 since Ben Maxwell.
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