The Montreal Canadiens are Officially in Trouble for the Foreseeable Future

However, the organization has not made any major moves to improve its roster. On the contrary, and this is the right thing to do, they will want to give as much responsibility as possible to the team's young players for the sake of their development.

Even if at first glance, with a roster that could remain healthy, we might hope for a more victorious season than the last two, there is a huge factor complicating matters for the Canadiens.

The NHL's Atlantic division, where the Canadiens are located, will once again be the most competitive division in the league.

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning are still expected to be among the best clubs in the National League, and we should not underestimate the Stanley Cup finalists, the Florida Panthers. Also, we should never count out the Boston Bruins, even if they have suffered significant losses to their roster.

Finally, Buffalo, Ottawa, and Detroit will be significantly more formidable next year.

The Sabres will try to emulate the New Jersey Devils with their incredibly talented young core. The Senators have gained experience and they have added interesting elements to their team, including goalie Joonas Korpisalo. For their part, the Wings made a big splash by adding Alex DeBrincat to their roster.

To summarize, the three teams that were ahead of the Canadiens in the division are expected to take a giant leap in their performance.

Unless there's a huge surprise, the Habs don't have the ammunition to compete with these teams. Let's just say that this bodes for another tough season for Martin St. Louis' squad.