Eastern Conference off-season preview: Montréal Canadiens

The Montréal Canadiens just snuck into the post-season in 2024-25.

After trading for Patrik Laine before the season, the Canadiens were able to be competitive for the first time in a while, finishing in a wild card spot. They’ll look to improve their standing in the Eastern Conference in 2025-26.

Let’s take a look at how the Canadiens’ 2024-25 season went, what they’ve done so far this off-season, and how their team shapes up come October.

How the season went

Thanks to the pandemic, the Montréal Canadiens had an easy pathway to the Conference Finals, defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games, then sweeping the Winnipeg Jets. In just six games, they were able to knock off the Vegas Golden Knights, making the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since they won it all in 1993. However, they fell in five games to the Tampa Bay Lightning, kick-starting a three-year rebuild.

Well, that rebuild ended in 2024-25, as the Canadiens finished with a 40-31-11 record with 91 points, just barely making the postseason on the final day. They had a tough opponent in the first round, taking on the team with the most points in the Eastern Conference, the Washington Capitals.

Unlike the 2010 post-season, there was no big upset for the Canadiens this time. Alexander Ovechkin scored his first career overtime winner in Game 1, the Capitals also took Game 2, before the Canadiens doubled up the Capitals by a score of 6-3 in Game 3. It was all the Capitals from there, though, as they defeated the Canadiens 5-2 in Game 4 and 4-1 in Game 5.

Drafted players

The Canadiens had the 16th and 17th overall picks in the draft, but those were moved – more on that later. Their first pick was in the second round, as they selected Russian winger Alexander Zharovsky with the 34th overall pick.

In the third round, the Canadiens had three picks, using them to select centre Hayden Paupanekis 69th overall, defenceman Bryce Pickford 81st overall, and Russian netminder Arseny Radkov 82nd overall. Then, they selected centre L.J. Mooney with the 145th overall pick. With the 145th overall pick, the Canadiens selected their second netminder, Alexis Cournoyer from the Québec Maritimes Junior Hockey League’s Cape Breton Eagles.

Their final three picks were in the sixth or seventh round. With the 177th overall pick, the selected defenceman Carlos Handel, followed by another defenceman, Andrew MacNiel, 189th overall. In the seventh round, the Canadiens drafted Max Vig.

Trades

So what happened to those two first-round picks? Well, the Canadiens sent them and former Calgary Flame Emil Heineman to the New York Islanders for the rights to restricted free agent Noah Dobson.

After some trades at the draft involving picks, the Canadiens sent netminder Cayden Primeau to the Carolina Hurricanes for a 2026 seventh-rounder. To make room on the right side of their defence, the Canadiens traded Logan Mailloux to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Zack Bolduc, their final move of the off-season (so far).

The Canadiens also traded the injured Carey Price (and a fifth-round pick) to San Jose in exchange for Gannon Laroque, in an effort to get themselves out of LTIR this coming season.

Free agent signings

The trade for Dobson included an eight-year contract extension for the right-shot defenceman, worth $9.5 million annually. They brought in netminder Kaapo Kähkönen, Sammy Blais, and Joseph Veleno, all three of whom could contend for depth spots on the Canadiens next season.

Moreover, the Canadiens extended defenceman Jaden Struble, signing him to a two-year deal worth $1.413 million annually, as well as netminder Jakub Dobeš to a two-year deal worth $965,000 annually.

Departures

While the Canadiens were busy adding players, a few players ended up departing this off-season. Right-shot defenceman David Savard retired, Christian Dvorak signed a one-year deal with the Philadelphia Flyers, and Joel Armia departed for the Los Angeles Kings.

Last season, Dvorak scored 12 goals and 33 points in 82 games, while Armia scored 11 goals and 29 points in 81 games, playing a crucial role on their penalty kill. Former Calgary Flames’ prospect Emil Heineman was involved in the Dobson deal before the draft.

What the team looks like heading into 2025-26

So how do the Canadiens shape up heading into the 2025-26 season? Nick Suzuki, Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook, and Jake Evans are their four centres, a rather weak centre core. They make up for it on the wing, as their first line is projected to have Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovský. Their second line is projected to have Laine and Ivan Demidov, another strong line.

On the third line’s wing, Josh Anderson and Brendan Gallagher are expected to go between Newhook, while Veleno and Bolduc will be the wingers on the fourth line.

Their first pair on defence may feature Kaiden Guhle and reigning Calder Trophy winner, Lane Hutson. Dobson will take a role on the second pairing alongside Mike Matheson, while Alexandre Carrier is expected to form a partnership with Arber Xhekaj.

In net, Sam Montembeault is their probable starter, with Dobeš backing him up.