Montreal Canadiens: Former Habs Struggling Mightily To Begin Season

The Montreal Canadiens struggled in the 2022-23 season. They had a decent start, but after finishing last in the standings the previous year, their warts reappearad and once again they were drafting in the top five.

They made some roster moves during last season, and allowed some players to leave as free agents in the summer. This opened up some room for younger players to play on the current roster, but it always leaves the possibility for regret when you allow a player to leave the organization as a free agent.

Early indications this season are that the Canadiens will not miss any of the players that left the organization after playing games with them in 2022-23.

Mike Hoffman was the highest scorer to leave the team in the summer. He was traded to the San Jose Sharks in the Erik Karlsson trade that also saw the Habs take on Jeff Petry and Casey DeSmith. Hoffman has played nine games with his new team, is yet to score a goal and has just one assist.

Jonathan Drouin always put up decent assist totals with the Canadiens, and had the potential to make the Habs look back when he signed with the Colorado Avalanche where he had the chance to produce more than ever alongside Nathan MacKinnon. But, the opposite has happened. Drouin had an assist on opening night but now has just one assist in eight games this season and was a healthy scratch last night.

Evgenii Dadonov was traded to the Dallas Stars and re-signed with them. He played well to end last season, and has three goals and four points in eight games with the Stars this season. The 34 year old has been the best of the Canadiens who left the team last season and he is on pace for 41 points.

Rem Pitlick had a couple decent stretches of hockey with the Canadiens over the past two seasons, but the Pittsburgh Penguins sent him to the AHL to begin this season. He has five points in eight games for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Alex Belzile has played well in the AHL with eight points in seven games after hitting free agency looking for an NHL home.

Joel Edmundson was traded to the Washington Capitals but was injured and has not played a game with them yet.

Denis Gurianov signed a one-way contract with the Nashville Predators but didn’t make the team and was put on waivers after training camp. He went unclaimed and is now playing for the Milwaukee Admirals where he has six points in six games. That’s good production, but he had a bad camp and must have been disappointed to be demoted.

Chris Tierney signed with the New Jersey Devils but is having a hard time getting into the lineup. He has zero points in the two games he did dress for this season.

That’s it. The top producer that recently left town at this point is Dadonov who has four points in eight games. Hoffman is part of one of the worst offenses we have seen in recent NHL history, Drouin and Tierney are being scratched, Edmundson is injured yet again and Gurianov, Pitlick and Belzile were sent to the minor leagues.

Some teams, even rebuilders, can lose a player they later wish they would have kept. There doesn’t seem to be much chance this is about to happen to the Canadiens.

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