Montreal, QC -- It has been a rough off season for the Montreal Canadiens. After another defeat in the playoffs at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings, the Canadiens were hoping to resign some big names like Couturier, Stastny, Palmeiri, Brown and Ekholm to keep the playoff team of the last few seasons intact. Unfortunately, the players had different ideas. The team didn't land Couturier, Stastny, Palmieiri, Brown or Ekholm leaving many fans scratching their heads. "Not sure what the next few seasons will look like...but there will be a bunch of new faces," stated one fan walking outside of Bell Centre last week.

 

When local media reached out to GM Mike Cooley this past week in a video conference, he stated, "It's clear for whatever reason these guys wanted to test the water and leave Montreal. It's the nature of the business. We wish all of them the best in the upcoming season. We did however land some talent during free agency and also managed to resign Keith Yandle. He'll continue to be an important part on defense in front of Vasilevskiy."

 

The team did manage to make the following signings over the past few weeks:

 

D Keith Yandle 3 YR @ $2.694 million

C/LW Michael Chaput 2 YR @ $1.477 million

RW Wayne Simmonds 2 YR @ $2.793 million

D Anthony Bitteto 2 YR @ $972,000

C Ben Street 2 YR @ $810,000

LW Curtis McKenzie 2 YR @ $810,000

 

 

While the Canadiens did nab some talent during free agency, they didn't hit a homerun by any means. When asked how the team will manage going forward without the likes of guys like the Couturiers or the Stastnys in the lineup, GM Cooley commented, "Simple. Now the younger guys get to show off. Cody Glass will be used up and down the lineup as will Jason Robertson. Expect to also start seeing guys like Mackenzie Weegar and Jordan Oesterle on defense. Oesterle spent all of last season with Laval, this year he will be in the opening night lineup."

 

Can the Canadiens continue their success from recent seasons? Only time will tell if they can keep the ship on course for the playoffs without some big names from years past.

 

HABS 2020-2021 OPENING NIGHT LINEUP (AS OF: 7-26-2020)

 

C Chris Tierney

LW Chris Krieder

RW Mikko Rantanen

 

C Michael Chaput

LW Evgeni Dadonov

RW Jakob Silfverberg

 

C Ben Street

LW Marcus Foligno

RW Wayne Simmonds

 

C Chris Tierney

LW Jason Robertson

RW Cody Glass

 

D Keith Yandle

D Matt Dumba

 

D Mackenzie Weegar

D Niklas Hjalmarsson

 

D Anthony Bitteto

D Jordan Oesterle

 

G Andrei Vasilevskiy

G Mike Smith