Montreal Canadiens 2014-2015 Preview: Habs a Stanley Cup Contender?

After making it all the way to the Eastern Conference finals before bowing out to the New York Rangers, are the Montreal Canadiens ready to take the next step and compete for the Cup?

Montreal Canadiens 2014-2015 odds:

Stanley Cup Odds
Odds to make Stanley Cup playoffs
Over/under regular season wins: Over/under 88.5

What’s new

Who’s in: PA Parenteau was signed in the offseason and should fit in well with a group of speedy, skilled forwards. He could be in for a breakout season. Manny Malhotra is an excellent defensive centre and should be a welcome addition to the fourth line and penalty killing units, while defenceman Tom Gilbert adds depth to the blue line.

Who’s out: Former captain Brian Gionta skipped town for Buffalo and the team also cut ties with Danny Briere, Josh Georges, Francis Bouillon, Ryan White, Georges Parros, Thomas Vanek and Douglas Murray.

The skinny

That’s a huge part of last year’s dressing room heading out of town. Montreal will need to establish a strong leadership group early and hope Parenteau fits in well. Still seems odd the Habs didn’t keep Georges and Bouillon.

Betting forecast

The Canadiens are taking a big gamble that their young roster is ready to break out. On one hand they do have a lot of potential in Brendan Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk, while another group of PK Subban, Max Pacioretty, Lars Eller are approaching their prime years. But will it be enough?

Overview

The Habs are a playoff team without question if Carey Price stays healthy and could end up near the top part of the Eastern Conference if Gallagher and Galchenyuk step up. There are a ton of questions with this roster though. Montreal isn’t deep and losing Georges and Bouillon on the back end will hurt – especially if Andrei Markov can’t log big minutes. The under was 42-28 in Habs games last year, but don’t count on that disparity this year. This team looks week at the back.

Prediction

Montreal finishes seventh in the Eastern Conference and loses in the first round of the playoffs. Unless the Habs make some major additions, depth will be a concern all year long. They need to create more even-strength scoring opportunities and at least one more top-four defencemen.