The Montreal Canadiens rode the MVP season of goaltender Carey Price to another playoff berth, before they were eliminated in the second round by the Tampa Bay Lightning and while the Habs have played five playoff rounds over the past two seasons, there are reasonable concerns about how much the team leans on Price. 

Price is not the only valuable player on the club but, on the whole, Montreal's skaters have to do a much better job controlling play if they are going to have a legitimate opportunity to win another Stanley Cup.

In an effort to protect Price, the Canadiens have invested in defence, spending more than $24-million on four defencemen (P.K. Subban, Andrei Markov, Jeff Petry and Alexei Emelin), while no other team is committing more than $21 million to their four highest-paid defencemen.

While playing better defensively can ease the pressure on Price, another way to lighten the load is to score more goals – no playoff team scored fewer than Montreal's 214 goals last season – and the Habs' best bets to increase production are Alex Galchenyuk, a 21-year-old heading into his fourth season, and Alexander Semin, a skilled winger coming off the worst season of his career, which made him a bargain on the free agent market.
 
It's not a surprise that a team with a great goaltender can overcome less-than-desirable possession numbers, but that's a lot of weight on one man's shoulders, so the rest of the Canadiens ought to be focused on doing their share of the heavy lifting.

 

OFFSEASON HEADLINES

July 1: Canadiens ship Prust to Canucks for right winger Kassian

July 10: Max Pacioretty sidelined 12 weeks with knee injury

July 24: Habs sign winger Alexander Semin to a one-year, $1.1 million deal

 

2015-16 MONTREAL CANADIENS

* Off-season Addition

 

TSN'S PROJECTED LINES

LW C RW
Max Pacioretty Tomas Plekanec Brendan Gallagher
David Desharnais Alex Galchenyuk Alexander Semin*
Jacob De la Rose Lars Eller Zack Kassian*
Devante Smith-Pelly Torrey Mitchell Dale Weise
  Brian Flynn Sven Andrighetto

Fighting For Jobs: LW Tomas Fleischmann (PTO), LW Charles Hudon, LW Christian Thomas

 

TSN'S PROJECTED PAIRS

LD RD
Andrei Markov PK Subban
Alexei Emelin Jeff Petry
Nathan Beaulieu Tom Gilbert
  Greg Pateryn

Fighting For Jobs: LD Mark Barberio*, LD Jarred Tinordi

 

TSN's Projected Goalies

No. 1 No. 2 No. 3
Carey Price Dustin Tokarski Mike Condon

Off-season Departures: LW Brandon Prust, RW P-A Parenteau, D Sergei Gonchar, C Manny Malhotra, D Mike Weaver  

 

KEY QUESTIONS

1. Will Alex Galchenyuk excel as a full-time centre?

2. How soon will Max Pacioretty be ready to return from injury and who will step up on offence? 

3. Who will be the next captain of the Canadiens?

 

CRAIG'S LISTS

Button's Top 2015-16 Prospects

1. Daniel Carr (Hamilton, AHL): College UFA can score and has a well-rounded game. 
2. Charles Hudon (Hamilton, AHL): Smart, versatile and can play in multiple spots in the lineup.

Button's Top 5 Long-Term Prospects

1. Nikita Scherbak (Everett, WHL): Combination of skill, speed and size that is always coveted.
2. Michael McCarron (Oshawa, OHL): Montreal may have accidentally fallen into a big centre. Drafted as a winger but made huge strides down the middle.
3. Artturi Lehkonen (Frolunda, SHL): Quick, fast and smart with a competitive edge. Physically maturing.
4. Noah Juulsen (Everett, WHL): Strong, territorial blueliner who can add offence
5. Martin Reway (Sparta Praha, Czech Extra): Can't sleep on this smaller, skilled and very competitive player

* Listed with 2014-15 teams

 

BY THE NUMBERS

 

Three-Year Breakdown (League Rank)

  2012-13 2013-14 2014-15
Points 108* (9th) 100 (9th) 110 (2nd)
Goals For 3.0 (4th) 2.6 (21st) 2.6 (20th)
Goals Against 2.6 (14th) 2.5 (8th) 2.2 (1st)
Power Play 21% (5th) 17% (T-19th) 17% (23rd)
Penalty Killing 80% (23rd) 85% (4th) 84% (T-7th)
SAT% Possession 53% (7th) 47% (26th) 49% (23rd)

* 2012-13 points: Pro-rated lockout-shortened total

 

ESTIMATED PAYROLL vs. CAP - $68.5/$71.4M

Because of how much money they are spending on the blueline, the Canadiens don't have a ton of flexibility. But enough that they could add, if necessary. They certainly have some big-ticket items, but that is offset by either entry-level or low-risk short-term deals.

 

PARTING SHOT