Montreal Canadiens 2017 Season Preview: Draft Utopia

Montreal Canadiens 2017 Season Preview

Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price had an awesome year in 2016-2017. Montreal goes as far as Price takes them.

Chris Ransom follow @DraftUtopia Posted on 9/25/2017.

Montreal Canadiens Line 1 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Max Pacioretty	Left Wing	81	6-foot-2-inches	216-pounds	35	32	67
Jonathan Drouin	Center	73	6-foot-0-inches	203-pounds	21	32	53
Brendan Gallagher	Right Wing	64	5-foot-9-inches	181-pounds	10	19	29

Montreal Canadiens Line 2 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Alex Galchenyuk	Left Wing	61	6-foot-1-inches	203-pounds	17	27	44
Phillip Danault	Center	82	6-foot-1-inches	195-pounds	13	27	40
Ales Hemsky	Right Wing	15	6-foot-0-inches	177-pounds	4	3	7

Montreal Canadiens Line 3 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Charles Hudon	Left Wing	3	5-foot-10-inches	188-pounds	0	2	2
Tomas Plekanec	Center	78	6-foot-3-inches	222-pounds	10	18	28
Artturi Lehkonen	Right Wing	73	6-foot-0-inches	183-pounds	18	10	28

Montreal Canadiens Line 4 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Paul Byron	Left Wing	81	5-foot-9-inches	162-pounds	22	21	43
Torrey Mitchell	Center	78	5-foot-11-inches	186-pounds	8	9	17
Andrew Shaw	Right Wing	68	5-foot-11-inches	182-pounds	12	17	29

Montreal Canadiens Forwards Review: Montreal four effective lines at forward. At the same time Ales Hemsky missed most of the season due to injuries, Charles Hudon has hardly any experience, and Jonathan Drouin is already injured as Montreal's line 1 center. That leads me to believe that Montreal's offense will be extremely limited. They could play effectively if everyone is healthy, but I also feel like injuries at forward could limit what this offense does.

Montreal actually has a talented and limited offense. The Canadiens ranked 15th in goals scored and 13th on the power play in 2016-2017. Montreal has an average offense. They may reach the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, but it's hard to see them going very far without a consistent offense.

Montreal Canadiens Defensive Lines

Player	Line	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Shea Weber	Line 1	78	6-foot-4-inches	230-pounds	17	25	42
Jeff Petry	Line 1	80	6-foot-3-inches	208-pounds	8	20	28
Karl Alzner	Line 2	82	6-foot-3-inches	217-pounds	3	10	13
Mark Streit	Line 2	68	5-foot-11-inches	186-pounds	6	21	27
David Schlemko	Line 3	62	6-foot-1-inches	189-pounds	2	16	18
Jordie Benn	Line 3	71	6-foot-2-inches	198-pounds	4	13	17

Montreal Canadiens Defensemen Review Montreal is strong at defense. They aren't loaded on the blue line like they were a few years ago. Montreal ranked 4th in goals allowed and 14th in penalty killing in 2016-2017. The Canadiens strength will be their defense.

Draft Utopia Between The Pipes Goalie Tracker

Starting Goalie

Player	Team	Games Played	Record	Shutouts	Save Percentage	Goals Against Average
Carey Price	Montreal Canadians	62	37-20-5	3 Shutouts	.923	2.23 GAA

Backup Goalie

Player	Team	Games Played	Record	Shutouts	Save Percentage	Goals Against Average
Al Montoya	Montreal Canadians	18	8-6-4	2 Shutouts	.912	2.67 GAA

Montreal Canadiens Goaltender Review Carey Price is a top 5 goalie. When Price is healthy this team will make a deep run. Montreal doesn't seem like the same team that is lights out defensively.

Montreal Canadiens Prospect Pool: Ryan Poehling out of St. Cloud State, Montreal's 2017 first round pick is their top prospect. He's a project player in the waiting, but has great tape.

Montreal Canadiens 2017-2018 Prediction

Montreal should make the playoffs again. At the same time, I feel like this team won't get past Ottawa or Boston in the opening round or anyone in the Metropolitan Division. I think they could finish second in their division behind Boston, but I see them losing to Ottawa in the opening round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs.