What the Montreal Canadiens Need to do to Make a 2024 Stanley Cup Run

Article By Mark Keast

Last Updated: 2023 Jun 27

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What the Montreal Canadiens Need to do to Make a 2024 Stanley Cup Run

Montreal Canadiens Stanley Cup Odds

🏒 The Canadiens are 251.00 to win the Cup and 101.00 to win the Eastern Conference at BetMGM Sportsbook
🏒 The Canadiens are 101.00 to win the Cup, and 56.00 to win the East at NorthStar Bets
🏒 The Canadiens are 151.00 to win the Cup at PointsBet Canada

We’re on the eve of the NHL’s off-season crazy time, with the draft coming up tomorrow in Nashville, followed by free agency starting on July 1.

A Canadian team hasn’t won the Stanley Cup since 1993 (the Montreal Canadiens), an abomination that Canadian hockey fans want to be corrected.

Let’s take a look at what the Canadian teams need to do to turn the tide on that and bring a Cup back to Canadian soil. Here, we look at that last team to win it all, the Canadiens and what their Stanley Cup betting odds are.

What Will the Montreal Canadiens Do in the NHL Draft?

The Montreal Canadiens are shoulders-deep in re-build mode, which makes the Pierre Dubois trade rumours from the Winnipeg Jets tough to swallow. Those Los Angeles Kings rumours sound more solid for Dubois, based on the reporting out there.

There would need to be some serious league-wide roster collapses and a God-like turnaround from their current roster for Montreal to win another Cup this year.

The Habs own the fifth overall pick in the NHL draft.

A lot of mock draft boards have the Canadiens choosing game-breaker C Will Smith at that spot. If that happens, then Smith represents another building block, but for future years.

What the Canadiens Need to Do to Get Better

Montreal finished second last in the Eastern Conference last season, at 31-45-6, for 68 points. A playoff berth in 2023-24 would be a massive accomplishment for Montreal, and a lot right needs to happen.

Somewhat surprisingly, considering his checkered health past, Montreal re-signed veteran centre Sean Monahan to a one-year contract extension earlier this month. The Canadiens have some big-ticket contracts, with no cap space, according to CapFriendly.

Those include captain C Nick Suzuki at $7.875 million, RW Brendan Gallagher at $6.5 million, and RW Josh Anderson at $5.5 million. LW Cole Caulfield’s new contract kicks in this season at $7.85 million.

Maybe D Joel Edmundson, making $3.5 million, goes in a trade, and good luck finding a taker for LW Joel Armia and his $3.4 million.

Is G Samuel Montembeault (16-19-3, 3.42 GAA, .901 save percentage last season), at just 26, and a waivers claim, the answer in net? G Jake Allen is still there, with two more years on his deal, making $3.85 million per season.

A lot of improvement will need to come from a rookie-laden defence. Justin Barron, Kaiden Guhle, Arber Xhekaj (on injured reserve) and Johnathan Kovacevic are all on rookie deals coming into this season.

And what do they do with last summer’s top overall pick LW Juraj Slafkovsky? At four goals and six assists in 39 games last season, playing just over 12 minutes per night, it’s better that he starts with the season in the American Hockey League. It’s more about roster development with the Habs again this season.

What do the top sports betting sites say? BetMGM has early NHL Futures and lists the Habs at 251.00 to win the Cup next season, and 101.00 to win the Eastern Conference.

NorthStar Bets has the Habs at 101.00 to win the Cup, and 56.00 to win the East. PointsBet Canada has the Habs at 151.00 to win the Cup.