It goes without saying that last season is one that most Montreal Canadiens fans will want to forget. But after finishing dead last in the league, there’s no direction left to go but up. And the Habs may be soaring faster than most of us thought.

Since hitting rock bottom, a new era has begun in Montreal. Starting with major adjustments in the front office, the wave of change also made its way behind the bench, and on the ice.

Now after selling major assets at the deadline, winning the draft lottery, and making multiple offseason signings, the Canadiens are a brand new team. No contenders yet, but things certainly look a lot better than they did a few short months ago.

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This roster is one with a lot of youth, talent and depth upfront. The same, though, can’t be said for the backend. And so, don’t be surprised if an offensive piece is flipped for a defensive asset. We’ve learned that Kent Hughes is not afraid of making bold moves.

While we are still a few weeks away from the season opener, here’s what coach Martin St. Louis’ lines could look like on October 8 if nothing else changes.

Projected lineup

Forwards

Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Josh Anderson
Juraj Slafkovsky – Sean Monahan – Jonathan Drouin
Paul Byron – Kirby Dach – Brendan Gallagher
Mike Hoffman – Christian Dvorak – Rem Pitlick

Defencemen

Joel Edmundson – Chris Wideman
Mike Matheson – Justin Barron
Jordan Harris – David Savard

Goalies

Jake Allen
Samuel Montembeault

Scratches/Injuries

Jake Evans
Joel Armia
Evgenii Dadonov
Kaiden Guhle
Carey Price (LTIR)