Montreal Canadiens Set Opening Night for the 2026-27 NHL Season

And just like that, the Montreal Canadiens' training camp has come to a close, with the club finishing the preseason with four wins and one loss in five games.

There were plenty of intriguing battles to keep a close eye on throughout training camp as players vied for a spot on the team's opening roster and many of those players looking to begin the season in the National Hockey League stood out, including former fifth overall pick David Reinbacher and Florian Xhekaj.

Earlier today, the Canadiens announced their final cuts ahead of the opening night roster submission deadline at 5 pm ET on Monday and we're going to take a deep dive into the decisions made by the organization.

Montreal Canadiens Set Opening Night Roster for the 2026-27 Season

The Montreal Canadiens will begin the season with 23 players on their active roster. The breakdown includes a total of 14 forwards, seven defenseman and two goaltenders. 

Among the moves made by the Canadiens today in order to get their roster down to the 23-man limit was placing defenseman Kaiden Guhle on injured reserve. Guhle underwent offseason surgery on his adductor muscle and the beginning of training camp, the Canadiens announced that the blueliner would be sidelined for about four-to-five weeks.

Guhle resumed skating with the main group on Saturday, which is a big step in his return to play. Assuming all goes well on the recovery front, it certainly looks like Guhle will return on the four-week end of things, putting him back in the Canadiens' lineup around Wednesday, October 14th.

Montreal Canadiens' Final Cuts

With Kaiden Guhle sidelined to start the season, all eyes were on 2023 fifth overall pick David Reinbacher to see if he would seize the opportunity and find his way onto the opening night roster.

Reinbacher played quite well throughout the preseason and it felt like he was a shoe-in for a spot on the Canadiens' roster, however, the club had other plans for him. Instead of beginning the season with the big club, Reinbacher was among ten players cut and assigned to the American Hockey League's Laval Rocket.

Other notables assigned to Laval on Sunday include forwards Owen Beck & Tyler Thorpe, defenseman Luke Mittelstadt - who stood out in a big way in camp - as well as goaltender Jacob Fowler.

The Canadiens have assigned the following players to the Laval Rocket: O. Beck, D. Bentley, L. Dauphin, J. Davidson, J. Fowler, F. Mesar, L. Mittelstadt, O. Protz, D. Reinbacher & T. Thorpe. The Canadiens said in a post on social media earlier on Sunday.

There was plenty of surprise when it was announced that Jacob Fowler was being sent down to start the season. Over the course of the summer and heading into camp, many were expecting Jacob Fowler to begin the season as Jakub Dobes' backup in Montreal, with Samuel Montembeault becoming a trade chip.

While a Samuel Montembeault trade is still possible as he enters the final year of his contract, his strong play in the preseason solidified his spot on the team's roster. In three preseason games, Montembeault sported an impressive 0.64 goals against average and a .971 save percentage.

Canadiens Place Nine Players on NHL's Waiver Wire

In addition to the ten players assigned to Laval earlier today, the Montreal Canadiens also placed nine players on the National Hockey League's waiver wire in order to send them to the American Hockey League, if and when they clear at 2 pm ET on Monday.

Defenseman Maksymilian Szuber, acquired in the Joshua Roy trade with Utah, and forward Sasha Pastujov, acquired from the Anaheim Ducks in the offseason for Sean Farrell, were among the nine Montreal Canadiens on waivers.

The Canadiens have placed the following players on waivers for the purpose of a loan to the Laval Rocket: A. Belzile, B. Berard, K. Kahkonen, H. McKown, S. Pastujov, S. Poulin, E. Samson, M. Szuber & R. Walsh. The Canadiens announced.

By virtue of finishing last place in the National Hockey League's overall standings during the 2025-26 season, the Vancouver Canucks will have first dibs at any of the nine players the Canadiens placed on waivers today. It's probably safe to assume that all nine will clear and be assigned to Laval, but keep an eye on Maksymilian Szuber. I feel like he could be an interesting depth piece for another club.

While it's unlikely that the Canadiens will claim anyone off of today's waiver wire on Monday, one player to watch is 28-year-old defenseman Nick Perbix of the Nashville Predators. Perbix, a native of Elk River, Minnesota, has one year remaining on his contract with a cap hit of $2.75 million USD.

Montreal Canadiens 23-Man Opening Night Roster

With all of that taken care of, we can now look at 23 players that have made Montreal's roster to begin the 2026-27 season. 

Two rookies will begin the season in the National Hockey League with the Canadiens and based on how both of them performed throughout the preseason, there's no surprise why they're on the opening night roster. Forward Florian Xhekaj and defenseman Adam Engstrom impressed Martin St. Louis and his coaching staff over the last couple of weeks and made the most of the opportunites given to them during the team's preseason.

Forwards (13): Josh Anderson (A), Zachary Bolduc, Cole Caufield, Kirby Dach, Phillip Danault, Ivan Demidov, Jake Evans, Oliver Kapanen, Chris Kreider, Juraj Slafkovsky, Nick Suzuki (C), Alexandre Texier, Florian Xhekaj.

Defensemen (7): Alexandre Carrier, Noah Dobson, Adam Engstrom, Lane Hutson, Mike Matheson (A), Jayden Struble, Arber Xhekaj.

Goaltenders (2): Jakub Dobes, Samuel Montembeault.

The first week of the NHL's 2026-27 season will see the Canadiens play twice, both on the road. Montreal will begin the season at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Tuesday where they'll take on the Maple Leafs at 7 pm ET. Then on Saturday, the first Saturday night game in the post-Hockey Night in Canada era, the Canadiens will face Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Puck drop for that on is also set for 7 pm ET.