Led by superstar goalie Carey Price, the Montreal Canadiens won the weak Atlantic division with 103 points in 2016-17. They were able to re-sign center Alex Galchenyuk. Also, they made a monster trade acquiring Jonathan Drouin from the Lightning. The Habs had a busy offseason, reconstructing their roster. Let\’s take a look at what they did.
Notable additions: F Jonathan Drouin, D Karl Alzner, F Ales Hemsky, D Mark Streit, D David Schlemko, D Joe Morrow.
Notable subtractions: F Alex Radulov, D Andrei Markov, D Nathan Beaulieu, F Brian Flynn, D Alexei Emelin, D Mikhail Sergachev F Dwight King, F Steve Ott.
Forwards
Here are my projected forward lines.
Jonathan Drouin – Alex Galchenyuk – Brandon Gallagher
Max Pacioretty – Tomas Plekanec – Ales Hemsky
Paul Byron – Andrew Shaw – Artturi Lehtonen
Paul Danult – Torrey Mitchell – Andreas Martinsen
That first line with Drouin and the two \”Gally\’s\” can put up some good numbers this year. Pacioretty is a first line player, but will be moved down because of the first line. That third line can be good if Lehtonen can have a good sophomore year, and Byron can have another good season. The 4th line is a solid grinder line.
Defensemen
Here are my projected defensive pairs.
Karl Alzner – Shea Weber
Jordie Benn – Jeff Petry
David Schlemko – Mark Streit
Alzner was signed to be a top-4 defenseman. Due to the P.K. Subban trade, Weber has actually been underappreciated. The rest of the defensemen are pretty good. Joe Morrow and Brandon Davidson will be the extra defensemen.
Goalies
Carey Price
Al Montoya
Price is undoubtedly the best goaltender in the world. Montoya is an okay backup.
Prediction
The Canadiens are still are a good team. I think that they will make the playoffs in 2017-18.
CarterHud 