The Columbus Blue Jackets travel to Montreal for their first road battle against the Eastern Conference of the season. The Montreal Canadiens and Blue Jackets puckdrop is at 7pm on Bally Sports Ohio and Bell.
The Canadiens have made quite the shakeup to the roster for the present and future of the franchise. This is a new breath of fresh air for the youngest rising teams in all of hockey.
In
Alex Newhook has been acquired via trade from the Colorado Avalanche in a multi-piece trade.
Tanner Pearson was acquired via trade from the Vancouver Canucks in a multi-piece trade.
Gustav Lindstrom was acquired from the Detroit Red Wings in a multi-player trade.
Nathan Legare was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins via the Erik Karlsson blockbuster.
Forward Phillipe Maillett signed
Defender Brady Keeper signed
Forward Lias Andersson signed
Forward Jakob Novak acquired via trade from the Ottawa Senators.
David Reinbacher was drafted 5th overall in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft.
Out
Mike Hoffman was moved to San Jose in the Karlsson blockbuster.
Jeff Petry came to Montreal in the Karlsson blockbuster, but was flipped to Detroit for Lindstrom to get his kids in school.
Casey DeSmith came to Montreal in the Karlsson blockbuster, and was flipped to Vancouver for Pearson before the season started.
Chirs Tierney joined the Devils.
Denis Gurianov did not sign a qualifying offer and signed with Nashville.
Joel Edmundson was dealt to Washington at 50% salary retained.
Vinzenz Rohrer signed in Europe
Otto Leskinen signed in Europe
Frederic Allard signed in Sweden
Gianni Fairbrother moved to Colorado in the Newhook deal.
Alex Belizile signed with the Rangers.
Anthony Richard moved to Boston.
Jonathan Drouin reunited with Nate MacKinnon in Colorado.
Rem Pitlick moved to Pittsburgh in the Karlsson blockbuster.
Madison Bowey signed in the KHL
Joel Teasdale signed with Iowa (AHL).
Paul Byron retired.
This young and hungry team is having a good start to the season, and Cole Caufield is leading the way with 6 points in 6 games. The healthier players in Sean Monahan and Tanner Pearson are not too far behind after missing most of last season. Jake Allen has not lost in regulation just yet, but they’ve had the young legs out.
With a loss, this will be the first time the Habs will be under 0.500 at home this season.
Kirby Dach is already out of the season after a torn ACL/MCL from the Blackhawks game. Brutal loss for a top 3 pick. David Savard was also recently placed on LTIR. This will be quite the dilemma for the Canadiens’ chemistry.
Projected Lineups
Montreal Canadiens
Cole Caufield—Nick Suzuki—Josh Anderson Rafael Harvey-Pinard—Alex Newhook—Juraj Slafkovsky Tanner Pearson—Sean Monahan—Brendan Gallagher Michael Pezzetta—Jake Evans—Jesse Ylonen
Michael Matheson—Justin Barron Jordan Harris—Jonathan Kovacevic Arber Xhekaj—Gustav Lindstrom
Jake Allen Samuel Montembault
Scratched - Joel Armia, Cayden Primeau Injured - Kirby Dach, David Savard, Christian Dvorak, Kaiden Guhle, Chris Wideman, Carey Price
Columbus Blue Jackets
Johnny Gaudreau—Boone Jenner—Jack Roslovic Alexandre Texier—Adam Fantilli—Emil Bemstrom Kirill Marchenko—Cole Sillinger—Justin Danforth Dmitry Vokornov—Sean Kuraly—Mathieu Olivier
Zach Werenski—Damon Severson Ivan Provorov—David Jiricek Jake Bean—Erik Gudbranson
Elvis Merzlikins Spencer Martin
Scratched - Adam Boqvist, Andrew Peeke, Kent Johnson
Injured - Patrik Laine, Daniil Tarasov
Players to Watch
Montreal - Cole Caufield — leading point scorer for the Habs.
Columbus - Ivan Provorov — 3 game point streak, 5 assists in 6 games. No goals yet.
Predicted Final Score
MTL - 2
CBJ - 3
OT