As the NHL Draft approaches, it is the perfect time to revisit some of the Montreal Canadiens' most notable first-round picks. The Canadiens have a tumultuous history with the NHL draft, marked by many great players alongside some notable misses. Today, we will focus on the hits. Players who left a lasting impact on the Canadiens' franchise. The Canadiens are fortunate to have such an illustrious history, but even with that, you could not tell the whole story of this franchise without the players listed below.
Guy Lafleur
Arguably the best player in the franchise's history, if not top-3 guaranteed. Guy Lafleur was a great playmaker with incredible speed and an underrated ability to score goals. The Canadiens traded their first-round pick in the 1970 NHL draft, along with Ernie Hicke, to the California Golden Seals for their 1971 first-round pick, Francois Lacombe and cash. The Golden Seals ended up being the worst team in the NHL in 1971, which gave the Canadiens the first overall pick, and they selected Lafleur.
Lafleur was not a superstar right away, as he joined a loaded Canadiens roster that won the Stanley Cup in 1970. However, that all changed in his fourth season when his numbers exploded. His point total jumped from 56 in the previous season to 115 in 1974-75. He finished second in the league in goals with 53 and was fourth in points. That was Lafleur's first of six consecutive seasons of hitting 100-plus points. His best year came in the 1976-77 season when he scored 56 goals and led the league in points with 136, winning the Art Ross Trophy. Lafleur racked in the awards that season, winning his first Hart Memorial Trophy, the Lester B. Pearson Award (now Ted Lindsay Award), the Conn Smythe Trophy, and the Stanley Cup.
His accolades run large. Lafleur won two Hart Memorial trophies, three Art Ross trophies, and three Lester B. Pearson Awards to go along with five Stanley Cups and a Conn Smythe Trophy. He also holds countless franchise records. Lafleur leads the franchise in assists (728) and points (1,246). He also holds the franchise record for most points in a single season (136), goals (60), assists (80), consecutive 50-goal seasons (6), and consecutive 100-point seasons (6). The Canadiens immediately retired his number 10 jersey following his first retirement in 1985, and in 1988, the NHL inducted him into the Hockey Hall of Fame. The Flower, as he was known, was one of the all-time greats.
Bob Gainey
Before there was Patrice Bergeron or Aleksander Barkov, there was Bob Gainey. Gainey was one of the first true great defensive forwards. His offensive numbers do not stand the test of time compared to how we view great defensive forwards today, but his ability to shut down the opposing team's best players was second to none. If you do not believe me, this is what the great Denis Potvin had to say about Gainey's forechecking ability: "He took me off my game and made me play too quickly against Montreal."
Gainey was the Canadiens' 8th overall pick in 1973 and played his entire 18-year career in Montreal. He joined a loaded Canadiens team, which might be why he goes a little unnoticed, but he was an integral part of a team that won multiple Stanley Cups. His offensive numbers were not gaudy by any stretch, recording 501 points in 1106 games. It was not his job to score. The Canadiens had Lafleur, Pete Mahovlich, and Steve Shutt to carry the load offensively. They needed Gainey to shut down the opposing teams' top players, something he did arguably better than anyone in NHL history.
Bob Gainey won the inaugural Frank J. Selke Trophy in the 1977-78 season. It was Gainey's first of four consecutive Frank J. Selke Trophy wins. The trophy was introduced in Gainey's fourth NHL season, prompting the question: How many more could he have won had it existed just a few years earlier? Gainey won the award four times, which sits second behind Bergeron, who has six. Additionally, Gainey won five Stanley Cups as a player and took home the Conn Smythe Trophy in their 1979 win. Following his retirement, the NHL inducted Gainey into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992, and later, the Canadiens retired his 23 jersey in 2008. Gainey was one of the first truly great defensive forwards in NHL history.
Carey Price
This spot could have gone to players like Steve Shutt or Saku Koivu, but I do not believe they meant as much to the team they played on as Carey Price did. For nearly his entire tenure with the franchise, the Canadiens were only as good as Price played. The Canadiens took Price with the 5th pick in the 2005 NHL draft, and initially, there were critics. Pierre McGuire, on draft night, was the most critical of this selection, saying: "This is not a fit." Price proved all the doubters wrong and became one of the greatest goalies in franchise history.
Price struggled early in his career with the Canadiens, splitting time with their other promising goalie at the time, Jaroslav Halak. Halak won a lot of the fans' hearts with his play in the 2010 NHL playoffs, but the Canadiens chose to cash in on his excellent play and traded him to the St. Louis Blues, further cementing that Price was the goalie of the future. The payoff for Price and the Canadiens was almost immediate. In that next season, Price set a franchise record for most games played by a goalie in a single season (72), helping the team make the playoffs. It was the start of Price's run as one of the most dominant goalies in the league.
Price's best year came in the 2014-15 season, where he set franchise records for wins in a season (44) and save percentage (.933), on his way to winning the Hart Memorial Trophy(one of four goalies in the expansion era to win), the Ted Lindsay Award, the Vezina Trophy, and the William M. Jennings Trophy. It is one of the greatest statistical seasons in NHL history. Price was not fortunate enough to be on loaded rosters like Lafleur and Gainey, but was still able to single-handedly carry a subpar Canadiens roster to a Stanley Cup Final. A franchise that has had the pleasure of having players like Jacques Plante, Ken Dryden, and Patrick Roy, it is Price who holds the record for most wins in the franchise's history (361). Price did not get into the Hockey Hall of Fame this time around, but he will not have to wait much longer and will surely have his number retired by the Canadiens one day. He may not have won the Stanley Cup, but there was no more feared goalie in the NHL during the time he was in the league than Price.