# 2019–20 Montreal Canadiens season

The 2019–20 Montreal Canadiens season was the 111th season for the franchise that was established on December 4, 1909, and their 103rd season as a franchise in the National Hockey League.
As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the season was suspended by league officials on March 12, 2020, after several other professional and collegiate sports organizations likewise followed suit. On May 26, the NHL regular season was officially declared over with all remaining games being cancelled. The Canadiens would advance to the playoffs for the first time since the 2016–17 season, defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins in the qualifying round, but were eliminated by the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round in six games.

## Standings
### Divisional standings

Atlantic Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | p – Boston Bruins | 70 | 44 | 14 | 12 | 38 | 227 | 174 | +53 | 100 |
| 2 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 70 | 43 | 21 | 6 | 35 | 245 | 195 | +50 | 92 |
| 3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 36 | 25 | 9 | 28 | 238 | 227 | +11 | 81 |
| 4 | Florida Panthers | 69 | 35 | 26 | 8 | 30 | 231 | 228 | +3 | 78 |
| 5 | Montreal Canadiens | 71 | 31 | 31 | 9 | 19 | 212 | 221 | −9 | 71 |
| 6 | Buffalo Sabres | 69 | 30 | 31 | 8 | 22 | 195 | 217 | −22 | 68 |
| 7 | Ottawa Senators | 71 | 25 | 34 | 12 | 18 | 191 | 243 | −52 | 62 |
| 8 | Detroit Red Wings | 71 | 17 | 49 | 5 | 13 | 145 | 267 | −122 | 39 |

### Eastern Conference

| Pos | Teamvte | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | PCT | Qualification |
| 1 | Boston Bruins | 70 | 44 | 14 | 12 | 38 | 227 | 174 | +53 | .714 | Advance to Seeding round-robin tournament |
| 2 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 70 | 43 | 21 | 6 | 35 | 245 | 195 | +50 | .657 | Advance to Seeding round-robin tournament |
| 3 | Washington Capitals | 69 | 41 | 20 | 8 | 31 | 240 | 215 | +25 | .652 | Advance to Seeding round-robin tournament |
| 4 | Philadelphia Flyers | 69 | 41 | 21 | 7 | 31 | 232 | 196 | +36 | .645 | Advance to Seeding round-robin tournament |
| 5 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 69 | 40 | 23 | 6 | 29 | 224 | 196 | +28 | .623 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 6 | Carolina Hurricanes | 68 | 38 | 25 | 5 | 27 | 222 | 193 | +29 | .596 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 7 | New York Islanders | 68 | 35 | 23 | 10 | 24 | 192 | 193 | −1 | .588 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 8 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 36 | 25 | 9 | 28 | 238 | 227 | +11 | .579 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 9 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 70 | 33 | 22 | 15 | 25 | 180 | 187 | −7 | .579 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 10 | Florida Panthers | 69 | 35 | 26 | 8 | 30 | 231 | 228 | +3 | .565 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 11 | New York Rangers | 70 | 37 | 28 | 5 | 31 | 234 | 222 | +12 | .564 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 12 | Montreal Canadiens | 71 | 31 | 31 | 9 | 19 | 212 | 221 | −9 | .500 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 13 | Buffalo Sabres | 69 | 30 | 31 | 8 | 22 | 195 | 217 | −22 | .493 | |
| 14 | New Jersey Devils | 69 | 28 | 29 | 12 | 22 | 189 | 230 | −41 | .493 | |
| 15 | Ottawa Senators | 71 | 25 | 34 | 12 | 18 | 191 | 243 | −52 | .437 | |
| 16 | Detroit Red Wings | 71 | 17 | 49 | 5 | 13 | 145 | 267 | −122 | .275 | |

## Schedule and results
### Preseason

The preseason schedule was published on June 18, 2019.

### Regular season

The regular season schedule was released on June 25, 2019.
2019–20 game log :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

### Playoffs

The Canadiens defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins in the qualifying round in four games.
The Canadiens faced the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round, but were eliminated in six games.
2020 Stanley Cup playoffs :
Legend:
  Win
  Loss :

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Tomas Tatar | 68 | 22 | 39 | 61 | 5 | 36 |
| Phillip Danault | 71 | 13 | 34 | 47 | 18 | 32 |
| Max Domi | 71 | 17 | 27 | 44 | −3 | 35 |
| Brendan Gallagher | 59 | 22 | 21 | 43 | 9 | 29 |
| Nick Suzuki | 71 | 13 | 28 | 41 | −15 | 6 |
| Jeff Petry | 71 | 11 | 29 | 40 | −10 | 26 |
| Shea Weber | 65 | 15 | 21 | 36 | 8 | 33 |
| Joel Armia | 58 | 16 | 14 | 30 | 2 | 28 |
| Artturi Lehkonen | 70 | 13 | 14 | 27 | 2 | 24 |
| Nick Cousins$^‡$ | 58 | 9 | 13 | 22 | 1 | 33 |
| Ben Chiarot | 69 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 5 | 61 |
| Jordan Weal | 49 | 8 | 7 | 15 | −8 | 14 |
| Jonathan Drouin | 27 | 7 | 8 | 15 | −6 | 14 |
| Nate Thompson$^‡$ | 63 | 4 | 10 | 14 | −2 | 21 |
| Ilya Kovalchuk$^{†‡}$ | 22 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 6 | 2 |
| Victor Mete | 51 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 5 | 20 |
| Paul Byron | 29 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 5 | 4 |
| Jesperi Kotkaniemi | 36 | 6 | 2 | 8 | −11 | 23 |
| Brett Kulak | 56 | 0 | 7 | 7 | −1 | 12 |
| Dale Weise | 23 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 16 |
| Mike Reilly$^‡$ | 14 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Jake Evans | 13 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Marco Scandella$^{†‡}$ | 20 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
| Christian Folin | 16 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 13 |
| Charles Hudon | 15 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −9 | 0 |
| Ryan Poehling | 27 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −4 | 4 |
| Xavier Ouellet | 12 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Lukas Vejdemo | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Cale Fleury | 41 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −4 | 6 |
| Karl Alzner | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
| Gustav Olofsson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −4 | 2 |
| Otto Leskinen | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Matthew Peca$^‡$ | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 0 |
| Riley Barber$^‡$ | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 2 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Nick Suzuki | 10 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 0 |
| Jonathan Drouin | 10 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 8 |
| Shea Weber | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 16 |
| Joel Armia | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| Jesperi Kotkaniemi | 10 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 23 |
| Paul Byron | 10 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| Artturi Lehkonen | 10 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Brendan Gallagher | 9 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 2 |
| Jeff Petry | 10 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| Phillip Danault | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 6 |
| Brett Kulak | 10 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Max Domi | 10 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −2 | 8 |
| Tomas Tatar | 10 | 2 | 0 | 2 | −1 | 4 |
| Victor Mete | 10 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Ben Chiarot | 10 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 12 |
| Alex Belzile | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Jake Evans | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 0 |
| Xavier Ouellet | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 14 |
| Charles Hudon | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dale Weise | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 2 |
| Jordan Weal | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Carey Price | 58 | 58 | 3,439:49 | 27 | 25 | 6 | 160 | 2.79 | 1,755 | .909 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Charlie Lindgren | 6 | 6 | 360:51 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 3.33 | 178 | .888 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cayden Primeau | 2 | 2 | 119:06 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2.52 | 72 | .931 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Keith Kinkaid | 6 | 5 | 339:59 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 24 | 4.24 | 192 | .875 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Carey Price | 10 | 10 | 605:32 | 5 | 5 | 18 | 1.78 | 282 | .936 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
$^†$Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Canadiens. Stats reflect time with the Canadiens only. $^‡$Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Canadiens only. Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

## Suspensions/fines

| Player | Explanation | Length | Salary | Date issued | Ref |
| Nick Cousins | Boarding Red Wings defenceman Mike Green | N/A | $2,688.17 | January 8, 2020 | |
| Claude Julien | Inappropriate comments against officials during a postgame press conference | N/A | $10,000.00 | February 17, 2020 | |

## Awards and honours
### Awards

Regular season :
| Player | Award | Awarded | Ref |
| Shea Weber | NHL All-Star Game selection | December 30, 2019 | |
| Nick Suzuki | NHL All-Rookie Team selection | September 21, 2020 | |

### Milestones

Regular Season :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| Cale Fleury | 1st career NHL game | October 3, 2019 |
| Nick Suzuki | 1st career NHL game | October 3, 2019 |
| Nick Suzuki | 1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point | October 9, 2019 |
| Nate Thompson | 700th career NHL game | October 9, 2019 |
| Jonathan Drouin | 200th career NHL point | October 12, 2019 |
| Victor Mete | 1st career NHL goal | October 17, 2019 |
| Nick Suzuki | 1st career NHL goal | October 17, 2019 |
| Brendan Gallagher | 300th career NHL point | October 20, 2019 |
| Brendan Gallagher | 500th career NHL game | October 30, 2019 |
| Tomas Tatar | 300th career NHL point | November 9, 2019 |
| Shea Weber | 100th career NHL powerplay goal | November 9, 2019 |
| Phillip Danault | 100th career NHL assist | November 16, 2019 |
| Cale Fleury | 1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL point | November 16, 2019 |
| Otto Leskinen | 1st career NHL game | December 5, 2019 |
| Cayden Primeau | 1st career NHL game | December 5, 2019 |
| Phillip Danault | 300th career NHL game | December 11, 2019 |
| Cayden Primeau | 1st career NHL win | December 11, 2019 |
| Joel Armia | 100th career NHL point | December 17, 2019 |
| Jordan Weal | 200th career NHL game | December 29, 2019 |
| Lukas Vejdemo | 1st career NHL game | December 31, 2019 |
| Artturi Lehkonen | 100th career NHL point | January 4, 2020 |
| Ilya Kovalchuk | 900th career NHL game | January 9, 2020 |
| Nick Cousins | 300th career NHL game | January 13, 2020 |
| Dale Weise | 500th career NHL game | January 27, 2020 |
| Ryan Poehling | 1st career NHL assist | February 4, 2020 |
| Jake Evans | 1st career NHL game | February 6, 2020 |
| Brett Kulak | 200th career NHL game | February 8, 2020 |
| Jake Evans | 1st career NHL goal 1st Career NHL point | February 10, 2020 |
| Lukas Vejdemo | 1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL point | March 10, 2020 |
| Jake Evans | 1st career NHL assist | March 10, 2020 |
Playoffs :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| Max Domi | 1st career Playoff game | August 1, 2020 |
| Jesperi Kotkaniemi | 1st career Playoff game 1st career Playoff goal 1st career Playoff point | August 1, 2020 |
| Brett Kulak | 1st career Playoff game 1st career Playoff assist 1st career Playoff point | August 1, 2020 |
| Victor Mete | 1st career Playoff game | August 1, 2020 |
| Nick Suzuki | 1st career Playoff game 1st career Playoff goal 1st career Playoff point | August 1, 2020 |
| Nick Suzuki | 1st career Playoff assist | August 5, 2020 |
| Alex Belzile | 1st career Playoff game | August 7, 2020 |
| Paul Byron | 1st career Playoff assist | August 7, 2020 |
| Alex Belzile | 1st career Playoff assist 1st career Playoff point | August 14, 2020 |
| Max Domi | 1st career Playoff assist 1st career Playoff point | August 14, 2020 |
| Jake Evans | 1st career Playoff game 1st career Playoff assist 1st career Playoff point | August 14, 2020 |
| Victor Mete | 1st career Playoff assist 1st career Playoff point | August 14, 2020 |
| Phillip Danault | 1st career Playoff goal | August 19, 2020 |
| Charles Hudon | 1st career Playoff game | August 19, 2020 |
| Xavier Ouellet | 1st career Playoff assist | August 19, 2020 |

## Transactions

The Canadiens have been involved in the following transactions during the 2019–20 season.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| June 22, 2019 (2019-06-22) | To Florida PanthersCHI's 5th-round pick in 2019 | To Montreal Canadiens5th-round pick in 2020 |
| June 22, 2019 (2019-06-22) | To San Jose Sharks4th-round pick in 2019 | To Montreal Canadiens4th-round pick in 2020 |
| June 22, 2019 (2019-06-22) | To Philadelphia Flyers7th-round pick in 2020 | To Montreal Canadiens7th-round pick in 2019 |
| June 22, 2019 (2019-06-22) | To Los Angeles KingsCBJ's 2nd-round pick in 2019 | To Montreal Canadiens3rd-round pick in 2019 5th-round pick in 2019 |
| June 30, 2019 (2019-06-30) | To Chicago BlackhawksAndrew Shaw 7th-round pick in 2021 | To Montreal Canadiens2nd-round pick in 2020 7th-round pick in 2020 3rd-round pick in 2021 |
| June 30, 2019 (2019-06-30) | To Anaheim DucksNicolas Deslauriers | To Montreal Canadiens4th-round pick in 2020 |
| January 2, 2020 (2020-01-02) | To Buffalo SabresSJ's 4th-round pick in 2020 | To Montreal CanadiensMarco Scandella |
| January 2, 2020 (2020-01-02) | To Ottawa SenatorsMike Reilly | To Montreal CanadiensAndrew Sturtz 5th-round pick in 2021 |
| January 7, 2020 (2020-01-07) | To Nashville PredatorsMichael McCarron | To Montreal CanadiensLaurent Dauphin |
| February 18, 2020 (2020-02-18) | To St. Louis BluesMarco Scandella | To Montreal Canadiens2nd-round pick in 2020 Conditional 4th-round pick in 2021 |
| February 20, 2020 (2020-02-20) | To Pittsburgh PenguinsRiley Barber Phil Varone | To Montreal CanadiensJoseph Blandisi Jake Lucchini |
| February 23, 2020 (2020-02-23) | To Washington CapitalsIlya Kovalchuk | To Montreal Canadiens3rd-round pick in 2020 |
| February 24, 2020 (2020-02-24) | To Philadelphia FlyersNate Thompson | To Montreal Canadiens5th-round pick in 2021 |
| February 24, 2020 (2020-02-24) | To Ottawa SenatorsMatthew Peca | To Montreal CanadiensAaron Luchuk 7th-round pick in 2020 |
| February 24, 2020 (2020-02-24) | To Vegas Golden KnightsNick Cousins | To Montreal Canadiens4th-round pick in 2021 |
| September 2, 2020 (2020-09-02) | To St. Louis BluesWSH's 3rd-round pick in 2020 CHI's 7th-round pick in 2020 | To Montreal CanadiensJake Allen 7th-round pick in 2022 |
| September 12, 2020 (2020-09-12) | To Carolina Hurricanes5th-round pick in 2020 | To Montreal CanadiensJoel Edmundson |

### Free agents

| Date | Player | Team | Contract term |
| July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01) | Riley Barber | from Washington Capitals | 1-year |
| July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01) | Keith Kinkaid | from New Jersey Devils | 1-year |
| July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01) | Brett Lernout | to Vegas Golden Knights | 1-year |
| July 3, 2019 (2019-07-03) | Phil Varone | from Philadelphia Flyers | 1-year |
| July 4, 2019 (2019-07-04) | Ben Chiarot | from Winnipeg Jets | 3-year |
| July 5, 2019 (2019-07-05) | Nick Cousins | from Arizona Coyotes | 1-year |
| July 18, 2019 (2019-07-18) | Hunter Shinkaruk | to Charlotte Checkers (AHL) | 1-year |
| September 13, 2019 (2019-09-13) | Daniel Audette | to Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL) | 1-year |
| January 3, 2020 (2020-01-03) | Ilya Kovalchuk | from Los Angeles Kings | 1-year |
| April 21, 2020 (2020-04-21) | Vasili Demchenko | from Metallurg Magnitogorsk (KHL) | 1-year |

### Contract terminations

| Date | Player | Via | Ref |
| December 7, 2019 (2019-12-07) | David Sklenicka | Mutual termination | |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Contract term |
| July 11, 2019 (2019-07-11) | Joel Armia | 2-year |
| July 11, 2019 (2019-07-11) | Artturi Lehkonen | 2-year |
| July 19, 2019 (2019-07-19) | Charles Hudon | 1-year |
| July 27, 2019 (2019-07-27) | Michael McCarron | 1-year |
| March 19, 2020 (2020-03-19) | Alex Belzile | 1-year |
| March 25, 2020 (2020-03-25) | Gustav Olofsson | 1-year |
| March 26, 2020 (2020-03-26) | Jesse Ylonen | 3-year |
| April 3, 2020 (2020-04-03) | Laurent Dauphin | 1-year |
| May 1, 2020 (2020-05-01) | Arsen Khisamutdinov | 2-year |
| May 12, 2020 (2020-05-12) | Cam Hillis | 3-year |
| July 13, 2020 (2020-07-13) | Alexander Romanov | 3-year |
| September 4, 2020 (2020-09-04) | Lukas Vejdemo | 1-year |
| September 16, 2020 (2020-09-16) | Joel Edmundson | 4-year |
| September 23, 2020 (2020-09-23) | Jake Evans | 2-year |
| September 25, 2020 (2020-09-25) | Joseph Blandisi | 1-year |
| September 25, 2020 (2020-09-25) | Jeff Petry | 4-year |
| September 28, 2020 (2020-09-28) | Jake Lucchini | 1-year |

## Draft picks

Below are the Montreal Canadiens' selections at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on June 21 and 22, 2019, at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia.
| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 15 | Cole Caufield | RW | United States | U.S. National Team Development Team (USHL) |
| 2 | 46 | Jayden Struble | D | United States | St. Sebastian's (USHS-Prep) |
| 3 | 64$^1$ | Mattias Norlinder | D | Sweden | MODO (Sweden Jrs.) |
| 3 | 77 | Gianni Fairbrother | D | Canada | Everett Silvertips (WHL) |
| 5 | 126$^2$ | Jacob LeGuerrier | D | Canada | Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL) |
| 5 | 131$^3$ | Rhett Pitlick | LW | United States | Chaska (USHS-MN) |
| 5 | 138$^4$ | Frederik Nissen Dichow | G | Denmark | Vojens (Denmark Jrs.) |
| 6 | 170 | Arsen Khisamutdinov | C | Russia | JHC Reaktor (MHL) |
| 7 | 201$^5$ | Rafael Harvey-Pinard | LW | Canada | Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (QMJHL) |
| 7 | 206$^6$ | Kieran Ruscheinski | D | Canada | Calgary Northstars (AMHL) |