Montreal Canadiens 2023-24 Open Night

Great post, but still have some questions:

1. Where will Montreal finish in the ranking?

2. What will most likely be the PP? (Are there other possible players to play PP minutes?)

3. Who is likely to have a breakout year or who will surprise in terms of point production? Who is advantaged by the line combinations?

4. Who is likely to have a bad year in point production?

5. How many games each goalie is likely to play?

I think there are some tough calls on the way and I don't see those here.

Armia and Lindstrom are waiver candidates. Kovacevic will not be waived.
Slafkovsky, Ylonen, or Barron may need to start the season in the AHL.
Monahan, Pearson, Dvorak, Savard, Wideman, Evans, Armia, Kovacevic, and Allen all have the potential to be moved by the deadline.
Monahan and Pearson are going to be showcased for trade as long as they are healthy and productive.

Pre-season will help with making those decisions, but we have too many players in need of a roster spot for there to not be any losses. At least one of those players will not be on the NHL roster day 1 and I'd expect 2-3. If someone impresses enough to earn a roster spot, the likelihood of an older player with short term being waived/traded is high.



I'd put them somewhere around 20-24th. Too good to reach the bottom, but not quite ready to challenge for a playoff spot.

I'm not too concerned with the PP until we have a couple more shooters in the ranks. Looking for Mailloux and Heineman there.

It's about time for Anderson to have a strong and healthy year. I'd like to see him with Newhook, and maybe RHP. The speed in transition followed up with a strong forecheck would be a handful.
Guhle, Barron, and Slafkovsky are the players we'd really like to see breakout however, as they would be key pieces moving forward.

Dvorak is the only one I'm really concerned about having a down year. We need the opposite from him, but a late start coming off an injury isn't likely to help and we have other center options ahead of him so his role won't really promote production.

Goaltending is another area I'm not concerned with. It doesn't matter (IMO) because neither is the long term solution in net. Ideally Montembault and Primeau would be splitting 50/30, but it looks like Primeau is going to be stuck in the AHL another year if he clears waivers. I'm not convinced he has what it takes as an NHL starter either, but I'd like the chance to find out before he's gone.