The Montreal Canadiens are now three seasons removed from playing in the Stanley Cup Final. In an ever-evolving sports world, roster turnover is an expected part of the business, and a championship contender like the Canadiens in 2021 is no exception.
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Out of the 24 players to dress during the playoff run, only six remain active with the club, meaning 18 skaters from that drive to the Final are playing somewhere else or retired.
Today, we want to dive into the roster turnover and see what has happened to the 2021 Canadiens, who came within three victories of hoisting their 25th Stanley Cup.
Where Are They Now? 2021 Montreal Canadiens
Still with the Canadiens
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Nick Suzuki
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Cole Caufield
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Josh Anderson
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Brendan Gallagher
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Joel Armia
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Jake Evans
After appearing in the Stanley Cup Final, Suzuki was promoted to captain of the Canadiens and became a 30-goal scorer. Caufield continues to score over 20 goals a season, while Anderson just had one of the worst seasons of his career with just 20 points.
Gallagher is now the longest-tenured skater in the Montreal room, approaching 800 games, and Armia scored a career-high 17 goals in 2023-24. Evans remains with the club, and had his best season following the run to the Final.
Still in the NHL
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Corey Perry (Edmonton)
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Jesperi Kotkaniemi (Carolina)
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Jeff Petry (Detroit)
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Erik Gustafsson (Detroit)
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Brett Kulak (Edmonton)
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Jake Allen (New Jersey)
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Tyler Toffoli (San Jose Sharks)
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Joel Edmundson (Los Angeles Kings)
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Ben Chiarot (Detroit Red Wings)
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Phillip Danault (Los Angeles Kings)
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Alexander Romanov (New York Islanders)
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Artturi Lehkonen (Colorado Avalanche)
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Jonathon Merrill (Minnesota Wild)
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Tomas Tatar (New Jersey Devils)
Immediately following the loss in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, the Canadiens lineup began to separate. Tatar, Merrill, Danault, Gustafsson, and Perry left in free agency, while Kotkaniemi departed to the Carolina Hurricanes via an offer sheet.
During the following season, 2021-22, the dismantling continued with a slew of trades, including Toffoli (February), Kulak (March), Lehkonen (March), and Chiarot (March). In the offseason, the Canadiens traded Romanov to the New York Islanders.
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Petry was the next to depart via trade (July 2022), followed by Edmundson (July 2023), and last but not least, Allen (March 2024). Many of these players have played for several clubs since departing Montreal, but no one has gone on to win the Stanley Cup.
Interestingly, several players from the 2020-21 club are now teammates in new cities, including Perry and Kulak, who just played in the 2024 Final with the Oilers.
Hockey Hall of Fame
Weber was the captain of the 2021 Canadiens, who lost in the Stanley Cup Final for the second time in his career following a 2016 defeat with the Nashville Predators.
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As of September 2024, Weber is the only player from that year’s team inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Carey Price and possibly Eric Staal and Perry will eventually join him in Toronto, but for now, Weber joins a long list of former Canadiens captains in the Hall of Fame.
Retired
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Carey Price*
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Paul Byron
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Eric Staal
Price is unofficially retired. He cannot come back from a lower-body injury, and his only appearance in the Stanley Cup Final in 2021 was his last hurrah.
As the winningest netminder in Canadiens history, it’s only a matter of time before his No. 31 goes to the rafters at the Bell Centre and he enters the Hall of Fame as a first-ballot candidate.
Staal recently retired after 18 seasons, having played in the 2023 Final with the Florida Panthers. Meanwhile, Byron missed most of the season after the Cup run, playing in just 27 games in 2021-22, officially retiring in September 2023 and joining the Canadiens’ coaching staff.
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