Montreal Canadiens 2016-17 season preview

    The Montreal Canadians made a big splash in the off-season when they were possible losers of the biggest move this off-season trading d-man P.K. Subban to Nashville in exchange for D Shea Weber. Weber is older and has a way bigger contract. But Weber is amazing defensively but can\’t match Subban\’s offensive talent. Also, RW Alexander Radulov is back in the NHL after playing in the KHL. Depth player Chris Terry comes in to replace Michael Bournival, who went to Tampa Bay. They lost defensemen Victor Bartley (MIN) and Tom Gilbert (LAK) but signed D Zach Redmond for a replacement. LW Daniel Carr is looking to have a breakout year after having a nice rookie season last year. Goalie Carey Price was hurt almost all of last season but everyone still knows he\’s the best goalie in the game. Backup Ben Scrivens left for the KHL so Montreal brought in Al Montoya to back Price up. Captain LW Max Pacioretty has shown to be an elite player. On draft day, the Canadians traded LW/C Lars Eller to the Capitals and in a separate trade acquired RW Andrew Shaw. Shaw is a nice replacement for Eller and would fit in well along side Brendan Gallagher. In the first round of the 2016 NHL draft, the Canadians selected D Mikhail Sergachev with the 9th overall pick. The Canadians need a guy like Sergachev because besides Weber, Montreal\’s defense is pretty abysmal. The Canadians\’ projected lines look like this:
 Max Pacioretty- Tomas Plekanec- Alexander Radulov
 Brendan Gallagher- Alex Galchenyuk- Andrew Shaw
 Daniel Carr- David Desharnais- Sven Andrighetto
 Paul Byron- Phillip Danault- Michael McCarron
 On defense is;
 Jeff Petry- Shea Weber
 Andrei Markov- Nathan Beaulieu
 Alexei Emelin- Zach Redmond
 Carey Price and Al Montoya are in net. LW Artturi Lehkonen, LW Brian Flynn and D Greg Pateryn are scratched.
 Finally, the Montreal Canadians, a team who are clearly nothing without their goalie, will make the playoffs if Carey Price can stay healthy.