It’s been a rough two years for the Montreal Canadiens and their fans. Nothing has been the same since their miracle run to the Stanley Cup Final during the 2021 playoffs. The Habs wildly outperformed expectations that postseason and paid for it in karmic dividends the next season, coming back down to earth in the worst possible way: they earned 55 points on the way to a 22-49-11 record, finishing the season as the worst team in the National Hockey League for the first time since 1940.

While the Habs have greatly improved this season (with one more victory they’ll have as many wins as they did in 2022 in nearly 30 fewer games) Montreal hasn’t fared much better in the standings. Their 21-27-4 record sets them as the second-worst team in the Eastern Conference, only ahead of an abysmal Blue Jackets team.

Unsurprisingly, that means that Montreal has some of the worst odds to win the Stanley Cup in 2023: they’re listed at or around +50000 at sportsbooks across Ontario, meaning that bookies project them as having just a 500 to 1 chance of winning Lord Stanley’s Cup for the 25th time this year.

They aren’t completely done yet, sitting 15 points out of a playoff spot with 30 games left to play, but it’s not looking good.

How They Got Here:

General Manager Kent Hughes had a busy offseason, wheeling and dealing in making a series of trades to try and shore up the last-place roster. Hughes also tried to escape unnecessary cap hits for aging players, opening up flexibility (and acquiring draft picks) for future seasons.

Montreal hosted the 2022 NHL Entry Draft at the Bell Centre, a fitting location after they won the draft lottery. The Canadiens picked Slovak power forward Juraj Slafkovsky with the first overall pick. Slafkovsky didn’t take any time to climb through the minor leagues (and it wasn’t hard to find a place for him on Montreal’s depleted roster), making his NHL debut in the Habs first game of the season. He’s suffered through a rocky rookie year, scoring just four goals and six assists through 39 games.

The Habs acquired a first-round pick from the New York Islanders in exchange for defenseman Alexander Romanov. Hughes then flipped that pick to Chicago for center Kirby Dach, who has had the highest-scoring season of his young career, tallying 12 goals and 22 assists in 52 games. Dach, 22, is still a developing player despite already having the better part of four seasons under his belt. He stands 6-foot-4 and is listed at 212 pounds after weighing in closer to 190 earlier in the season: it’ll be interesting to see how his game changes as he continues to bulk up.

Hughes also escaped the cap hit of the the-34-year-old defenseman Jeff Petry, who wore out his welcome in Montreal with an abysmal 2021-22 season. Habs fans nicknamed him the ‘Tank Commander,’ alluding to his poor play as the centerpiece of a team in freefall. With three years remaining on his $6.25 million average annual value (AAV) contract, Hughes cut salary by flipping him to the Pittsburgh Penguins along with center Ryan Poehling in return for offensive defenseman Mike Matheson as the teams tried to give up-and-down players a second chance with a change of scenery.

Unfortunately for the Habs, Matheson’s first season in Quebec hasn’t been able to get off the ground yet: he’s played in just 18 games this season, tallying two goals and eight assists. Matheson didn’t make his season debut until November 19 after a preseason abdominal strain, then missed another month with an undisclosed lower-body injury. However, he could be due for a breakout, as he had his best game in red and blue against the Islanders on Saturday, scoring the overtime game-winner.

Later in the offseason, Hughes elected to take on some salary, picking up center Sean Monahan from the Calgary Flames in return for a series of conditional picks, including a first-rounder.

Monahan signed a seven-year contract worth nearly $45 million in 2016 and never lived up to his lofty salary, so the Flames wanted to cut ties with him to clear up space for center Nazem Kadri in their attempt to win now. With just one year remaining on the deal (as opposed to three for Petry), Hughes took on Monahan’s cap hit to acquire future draft capital.

This is head coach Martin St. Louis’ first full season behind the bench: he was named the interim head man in mid-2022, and Hughes gave him a three-year extension after he managed a 14-19-4 finish with a mediocre roster.