The Montreal Canadiens are an organization that has seen its ups and downs over the past couple of decades. It has allowed them to see some interesting talent come through along the way. Some are great players and some just made a quick pit stop in Montreal. But as we are now in September and the 2023-24 season looms, here’s a look at the former Canadiens still looking for new homes this season.
Jaroslav Halak
Jaroslav Halak is now 38 years old and has been around the NHL for a long time, so long that he was originally drafted into the NHL by the Canadiens in the ninth round. He has played for seven teams and has had a great career to this point, but some of his best seasons came with the Canadiens from age 21 to 24.
Halak is coming off a one-year deal where he played for the New York Rangers last season. It wasn’t his best showing, especially early on, but he was counted on in the back half of the season to stop pucks and give Igor Shesterkin a break. Most teams have three goalies with NHL experience in their system already, but there are a few teams without that cushion. It seems as though options are very limited for Halak to sign with, but he could always get himself a PTO (professional tryout) or a cheap contract early into the season. He’s still a capable goalie as he showed last season with a .916 save percentage in his final 16 games.
Eric Staal
Eric Staal is one of the greats of the late 2000s and early 2010s, but his career is winding down. Yet, he could still find himself a team to play for. The 38-year-old played last season with the Florida Panthers on a league-minimum deal after earning it from a PTO but came out of the season with an impressive 14 goals and 29 points in 72 games. He is still a reliable option and it’s clear he’s willing to take the least amount of money to continue to play.
Staal didn’t play in the NHL in the 2021-22 season, but was part of the Stanley Cup Final run with the Canadiens in 2020-21. He wasn’t exactly impressive after being acquired at the trade deadline that season, but he’s also not the player that should be counted on to score anymore. He is a big, smart, veteran who has won before. He knows what it takes and can definitely be a positive in the locker room and on the ice for a team, even just getting the chance with a PTO to start.
Nathan Beaulieu
Nathan Beaulieu is one of the closest of this group to have a contract for the 2023-24 season as he is on a PTO with the Carolina Hurricanes. That team has a lot of good defensemen as it is, so he might just wind up with a two-way, league-minimum deal and see limited action this season in the NHL. He is a capable defender and definitely gives the Hurricanes some depth if he does earn a contract.
Related: Canadiens’ Decisions to Make if in Contention at Trade Deadline
Beaulieu was a first-round pick by the Canadiens back in 2011 and spent six seasons in the organization, playing games in the NHL in five of them. Without a doubt his two best seasons in the NHL were spent with Montreal in his final two seasons with the team where he played his most games in a season, logged the most ice time per game, and recorded the most points in his career. It has been a struggle for him to find consistent playing time in the NHL, but he is physical and has gotten more defensively responsible over the years as his offense has evaporated. He’ll be playing in the NHL/American Hockey League in some capacity this season.
Jordie Benn
Another former Habs player is Jordie Benn, who like Beaulieu, is a depth defenseman that just earned himself a PTO. He is back with the Dallas Stars with his brother Jamie where he started his professional career. Although he was undrafted, he signed with the Stars’ organization and played parts of six seasons with them before being traded during the 2016-17 season to the Canadiens.
Benn’s best season came in 2018-19 with the Canadiens where he was a beast in his own end with 128 blocked shots and 124 hits, adding five goals and 22 points on top of that. The 36-year-old didn’t get much playing time last season as a depth defenseman on the Toronto Maple Leafs, only getting into 12 games with limited ice time. He will likely be able to find a home in Dallas once again to potentially close out his career.
There is one more name, but he isn’t worth a whole section on, and it’s Nathan Schnarr. Drafted in 2017 by the Arizona Coyotes, he spent about a season in total with the Canadiens’ organization. He was acquired in March 2022 from the New Jersey Devils and played 20 games for the Laval Rocket to end the season. He then played 27 games the following season (2022-23) and was dealt almost a year after being acquired by the Canadiens to the Los Angeles Kings.
Most of these players are getting up there in age and retirement is definitely an option. A couple will surely find a contract somewhere this season though as they’re on PTOs.
