Last time I tried this, we got the Jean-Gabriel Pageau contract a couple of hours after, so here goes again, and maybe the Ryan Dzingel contract will get done.

So while the Senators off-season has been pretty quiet and Pierre Dorion is primarily looking for improvement from within, around the division there has been a lot of changes, some for the better and some not so much.

Today I go up the 417 and check in on the Montreal Canadiens, the club who finished atop the Atlantic Division, 5 points ahead of the Senators. They lost to the Rangers in 6 games in the first round.

The offensively-challenged Canadiens made a couple of big moves, the most notable might be acquiring Jonathan Drouin from the Tampa Bay Lightning for defensive prospect Mikael Sergachev. Drouin should bring some excitement and some offense to the Habs, but his addition is sort of offset by the departure of Alexander Radulov, who couldn't come to agreement with the club on a long term deal and departed for Dallas and a 5 year deal.

Montreal also added Ales Hemsky on a cheap 1 year deal, and Peter Holland, a veteran centre added for depth and probably ticketed for the minors but can be used in a pinch if needed. Departing will be Brian Flynn, who also signed with the Stars, the retired Steve Ott, and still unsigned Dwight King.

As much change as there has been up front, the Habs' blue line will have a very different look.

Alexei Emelin was selected by Vegas in the expansion draft, Andrei Markov is still unsigned and looking for a second year on a contract, and Nathan Beaulieu dealt to the Sabres for a draft pick. Incoming bueliners include Karl Alzner, who was one of the most sought-after defensemen in free agency, David Schlemko, and Joe Morrow.

The biggest strength of the team, and now assuredly no turnover in the foreseeable future is in the crease. Carey Price signed a monster 8 year extension averaging more than $10M per season, that will kick in following the upcoming season.

Are the Canadiens any better now than they were last season? I am not sure. Price pretty much guarantees a playoff spot on his own, he is that good and that much better than most goalies he will line up against. They won a division without being able to score much (only Ottawa scored fewer goals among the Eastern Conference teams that were either in the playoffs or within range) so anything is possible. Drouin will add excitement, but is Byron a guy who will get you 20 goals again, or is he like Jean-Gabriel Pageauof a couple of years ago, a guy who had a great season but will fall back into the 10-15 goal range while doing other things that contribute? They will need Drouin to live up to his potential, the continued maturation of Phillip Danault and Alex Galchenyuk, as well as the emergence of Charles Hudon to provide more balanced offense and not to rely so much on Max Pacioretty.

They have moved away from a couple of oldler/slower players in Markov and Emelin, and replaced them with solid, if unspectacular, players in Alzner and Schlemko.

Potential Lineup

FORWARDS
Pacioretty - Galchenyuk - Gallagher
Drouin - Danault - Lehkonen
Byron - Plekanec - Shaw
Hudon - Mitchell - Hemsky

Martinsen/McCarron/Holland/de la Rose/Scherback

DEFENSE
Weber - Alzner
Benn - Petry
Davidson - Schlemko

Morrow/Juulsen

GOALIE
Price
Montoya
Fucale

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