The Montreal Canadiens are in a good position to make the playoffs after a 7-3 victory over the New York Islanders, with 80% chance to make the playoffs. At this point in the season, the coaching staff is tightening its lineup, and unless there is an injury, they probably are not making many changes.
That means that there are several players who could have already played their final game with the franchise. When looking at the current roster, these are four players in particular who likely will not take the ice again for the Montreal Canadiens.
Patrik Laine
The first player on this list is a little surprising, considering he is still on the roster at this point, as Patrik Laine seemed almost guaranteed to be moved at the NHL Trade Deadline. He has been out since October, but has appeared ready to return for a few weeks now.
However, the challenge is that the Canadiens don't really have a spot in the lineup for him. There is no question that Laine can score, as evident of his 20 goals in 52 games last season, but he struggles on the defensive end and has a Corsi For % below 45% in each of the past three seasons in even strength situations.
Laine is set to be a free agent after this season, and it is hard to envision a scenario where the player wants to return, or the Canadiens would want to bring him back.
Kirby Dach
Kirby Dach is another player who is set to be a free agent after this season, but it seems unlikely that the Canadiens are going to bring him back. He has shown he can make a difference on the ice, on both ends, and at 25 years old, should still have plenty of good hockey ahead of him.
The concern with Dach is that he has struggled to stay healthy and is currently dealing with an upper-body injury that could keep him out for a few more weeks. That has been the story for Dach in his time with the Canadiens, as he has not played more than 58 games in a single season.
When taking into account the injury history and the fact that the Canadiens need to offer a one-year, $4 million qualifying offer to keep the restricted free agent status, it seems unlikely that he will be extended the qualifying offer.
It wouldn't be surprising if Dach is healthy and ready to return, that he would be back on the ice for the Canadiens towards the end of the regular season or in the playoffs. However, the coaching staff might find themselves in a situation where they don't want to disrupt the chemistry they have with the lines. In that scenario,
Arber Xhekaj
Unlike Dach, it would make sense for the Canadiens to extend a qualifying offer to defenseman Arber Xhekaj. However, the Canadiens would do that to give them the chance to trade Xhekaj after he fell out of the rotation this season.
Xhekaj has 220 games in his career with Montreal and is a physical presence with 613 hits, while adding 193 blocked shots. At 25 years old, Xhekaj has the potential to be a third-pair defenseman and showed he is capable of servicable minutes.
The Canadiens have gotten better production from their blueline as of late, and that is with Xhekaj as a healthy scratch. It is going to be a point of emphasis, and they will make changes beyond Xhekaj and why he has probably played his final game for the Canadiens.
Samuel Montembeault
Of the four players on this list, Samuel Montembeault is the only one currently under contract next season. The Canadiens certainly could bring him back, but similar to the blueline, they are going to have to make some changes to the position this summer.
Montembeault was expected to be the starter coming into the season, but he has struggled with one of the worst seasons of his career. He has started 23 games with a 10-8-4 record with a career-worst save percentage of .873 and a goals against average of 3.43.
Recently, the Canadiens called up Jacob Fowler from the AHL, and since he has been on the roster, Montembeault has not made a start. In fact, his last start was all the way back on March 6th, and unless there is an injury, it is hard to imagine he gets back on the ice this season.
It will be interesting to see how the Canadiens approach the position because Jakub Dobes and Jacob Fowler have been pretty good as of late. If that trend continues, does the team stick with those two, or do they add a veteran?
Either direction they take, and with teams always looking for a goalie, this is a trade that makes a lot of sense this summer.