With the 2026-27 campaign less than two months away, we're entering the third year with Fanatics as the official uniform supplier for the National Hockey League.
For the most part, there haven't been too many wholesale changes from the Adidas era. Three of the league's 32 franchises - Anaheim, Boston & St. Louis - have new home and away uniforms since Fanatics took over. Technically, you can include the Utah Mammoth too given they entered the league as Fanatics took over from Adidas.
In the Fanatics era, eight clubs have introduced new third jerseys - Chicago, Dallas, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Seattle and Washington. Meanwhile, 11 others have carried over third jerseys from the Adidas era and St. Louis made their old home uniform their alternate after undergoing a rebrand ahead of the 2025-26 season.
During the 2025-26 season, 22 teams, or 68% of the National Hockey League, wore a third jersey or centennial uniform. Among the teams that didn't don one was the Montreal Canadiens, who haven't had an officially designated third jersey since the 2006-07 season. Fans have been hoping that the club will introduce one in the coming years and it certainly feels like the right time to do so.
Should the Montreal Canadiens introduce a third jersey?
Over the last two decades, the Montreal Canadiens have worn a handful of uniforms that aren't there traditional home and away set.
During their centennial, which the Canadiens celebrated across two seasons (2008-09 & 2009-10), the club donned sweaters from their history. Their original blue uniform from 1909 was one of those used, as was the barber pole sweater from 1912, among others.
In 2011, 2016 and 2017, the Canadiens participated in outdoor games - Heritage Classic, Winter Classic and NHL 100 Classic, respectively, all of which brought new uniforms as well. The one worn in 2016 was a nod to their 1945 white jersey, with some changes, including the logo. It's widely regarded as one of the best jerseys the Canadiens have worn in their history.
Flash forward to late 2020, the National Hockey League and Adidas released a league-wide jersey program called 'Reverse Retro'. The Canadiens wore a blue version of their home sweaters for select games during the 2021 season. In 2022-23, the league and Adidas teamed up for a second set of Reverse Retro uniforms, with Montreal going with a light blue base colour, similar to what was worn by the city's former MLB team, the Expos.
Outside of speciality game jerseys and Reverse Retros, the Canadiens have not worn an officially designated third jersey in 20 years, as mentioned earlier. In 2006-07, the Canadiens wore their 1945 white uniforms, which is basically just an inverted version of their classic home jerseys, as a third. Montreal had been wearing it off and on since 2003 for select games, but prior to the 2006-07 season, they decided to keep it as their third jersey.
Since then, we have not seen the Canadiens wear a third jersey and in my opinion, it feels like it's time to. However, they have to do so with keeping their history in mind and not straying far from their classic look. So, what could that look like?
The easiest move here would be to bring back a jersey from the past and use that as their third jersey and it feels like this would be the most likely move if the Canadiens ever get a third uniform.
Their 1945 white jerseys, worn as a third in 2006-07, would be the best uniform the Canadiens could wear as a third, in my opinion. It's a uniform that fans love and it goes without saying that if it were to return, Canadiens owner Geoff Molson would earn a pretty significant profit as these jerseys would fly off the shelves.
Whether a direct throwback to those 1945 jerseys or the 2016 Winter Classic, which was inspired by the former, would be a better option, that remains to be seen. Both jerseys would compliment Montreal's home and away sweaters very well.
How soon could the Montreal Canadiens get a third jersey?
With Marty St. Louis' group taking part in the 2026 Heritage Classic in Winnipeg, as well as a reported league-wide jersey program dubbed Hometown Remix, it's unlikely that the club will introduce a third jersey this coming season. With four total jerseys expected this season - home, away, Heritage Classic and Hometown Remix, a third jersey is probably at the back of everyone's mind in the organization right now.
That being said, the 2027-28 season would be the earliest we could see the Canadiens introduce a third jersey. There's no indication that they will that season, however it does feel like the right time given how long they've gone without a third sweater. We'll see if the Canadiens have anything up their sleeves over the next 12 months.