The Montreal Canadiens 2023-24 season is right around the corner. The players have already assembled for training camp, all 72 of them, and their preseason got underway with a loss to the New Jersey Devils last night.
Of those 72 players, four were already released as they were sent back to their respective Junior teams. Cedrick Guindon, Florian Xhekaj, Quentin Miller and Jan Spunar were all released from training camp earlier this week, and with Carey Price, Chris Wideman and Christian Dvorak all out with injuries, the roster is now down to 65 active players.
We got a look at about a third of those players in their first preseason game, and will continue to watch as the team plays out their final five exhibition contests starting with a game against the Ottawa Senators tonight.
Some of the players showing up for training camp already know their roster spot is locked in and others know they will be playing the year in Junior or the minor leagues, but there are a few roster spots up for grabs.
There are also a handful of younger players in the organization that know this is an important year whether they are playing for an NHL job or not. Some players are at risk of seeing the team move on from them if they can not convince them otherwise this season. These are players that have not solidified their spot in the organization yet and the team will have to decide by next June whether to offer them a contract or not.
With a limit of 50 contracts per team, the Canadiens, who have drafted a lot of players recently, need to be careful not to use up all of their contract slots too quickly. So, they will be cutting some bait at season’s end.
These three players need to prove something this season or they will no longer be part of the Canadiens organization.