# 2000–01 Montreal Canadiens season

The 2000–01 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 92nd season of play. The club finished fifth in the Northeast Division and did not qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs for a third consecutive season, marking the first such drought for the franchise since 1920–1922.

## Regular season

* After a loss to the Washington Capitals on November 17, the Canadiens had the worst record in the NHL. The two expansion teams, Minnesota and Columbus were ahead of them in the standings. After losing to the Toronto Maple Leafs on home ice on November 18, Rejean Houle and Alain Vigneault were fired. On November 20, Andre Savard was made the new general manager, while Michel Therrien of the Quebec Citadelles became the new head coach. Despite the changes, the Canadiens had one win, ten losses and two ties in the month of December.
* At the end of December, Dan O'Neill, president of Molson met with George N. Gillett, Jr. Gillett had shown interest in the Florida Panthers, New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators, and the Phoenix Coyotes. After the meeting, Gillett agreed to be the new owner. Gillett acquired the Molson Centre and eighty percent of the franchise for two hundred and seventy-five million dollars.
* February 13, 2001: Patrick Roy made his first visit to Montreal since breaking Terry Sawchuk's record for most wins by a goaltender. Roy had won 289 games with Montreal, and the Canadiens held a pregame ceremony for Roy.
* The Canadiens allowed the fewest short-handed goals during the regular season, with just three.

### Final standings

Northeast Division :
| No. | CR | | GP | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | 2 | Ottawa Senators | 82 | 48 | 21 | 9 | 4 | 274 | 205 | 109 |
| 2 | 5 | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 46 | 30 | 5 | 1 | 218 | 184 | 98 |
| 3 | 7 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 82 | 37 | 29 | 11 | 5 | 232 | 207 | 90 |
| 4 | 9 | Boston Bruins | 82 | 36 | 30 | 8 | 8 | 227 | 249 | 88 |
| 5 | 11 | Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 28 | 40 | 8 | 6 | 206 | 232 | 70 |
Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL=Overtime loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.
Eastern Conference :
| R | | Div | GP | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | Z- New Jersey Devils | AT | 82 | 48 | 19 | 12 | 3 | 295 | 195 | 111 |
| 2 | Y- Ottawa Senators | NE | 82 | 48 | 21 | 9 | 4 | 274 | 205 | 109 |
| 3 | Y- Washington Capitals | SE | 82 | 41 | 27 | 10 | 4 | 233 | 211 | 96 |
| 4 | X- Philadelphia Flyers | AT | 82 | 43 | 25 | 11 | 3 | 240 | 207 | 100 |
| 5 | X- Buffalo Sabres | NE | 82 | 46 | 30 | 5 | 1 | 218 | 184 | 98 |
| 6 | X- Pittsburgh Penguins | AT | 82 | 42 | 28 | 9 | 3 | 281 | 256 | 96 |
| 7 | X- Toronto Maple Leafs | NE | 82 | 37 | 29 | 11 | 5 | 232 | 207 | 90 |
| 8 | X- Carolina Hurricanes | SE | 82 | 38 | 32 | 9 | 3 | 212 | 225 | 88 |
| 8.5 |||||||||||
| 9 | Boston Bruins | NE | 82 | 36 | 30 | 8 | 8 | 227 | 249 | 88 |
| 10 | New York Rangers | AT | 82 | 33 | 43 | 5 | 1 | 250 | 290 | 72 |
| 11 | Montreal Canadiens | NE | 82 | 28 | 40 | 8 | 6 | 206 | 232 | 70 |
| 12 | Florida Panthers | SE | 82 | 22 | 38 | 13 | 9 | 200 | 246 | 66 |
| 13 | Atlanta Thrashers | SE | 82 | 23 | 45 | 12 | 2 | 211 | 289 | 60 |
| 14 | Tampa Bay Lightning | SE | 82 | 24 | 47 | 6 | 5 | 201 | 280 | 59 |
| 15 | New York Islanders | AT | 82 | 21 | 51 | 7 | 3 | 185 | 268 | 52 |
Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast
Z – Clinched Conference; Y – Clinched Division; X – Clinched Playoff spot

## Schedule and results

2000–01 regular season :
October: 4–5–2–0 (home: 4–1–1–0; road: 0–4–1–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordPointsRecap
1LOctober 6, 20004–8@ New Jersey Devils0–1–0–00Recap
2LOctober 7, 20000–2@ Toronto Maple Leafs0–2–0–00Recap
3WOctober 10, 20005–2Edmonton Oilers1–2–0–02Recap
4LOctober 11, 20001–3@ New York Rangers1–3–0–02Recap
5WOctober 14, 20005–4 OTChicago Blackhawks2–3–0–04Recap
6WOctober 17, 20004–3Buffalo Sabres3–3–0–06Recap
7TOctober 19, 20003–3 OT@ Philadelphia Flyers3–3–1–07Recap
8WOctober 21, 20005–2Carolina Hurricanes4–3–1–09Recap
9TOctober 24, 20002–2 OTMinnesota Wild4–3–2–010Recap
10LOctober 27, 20001–2@ New York Islanders4–4–2–010Recap
11LOctober 28, 20001–2New York Islanders4–5–2–010Recap :
November: 5–10–0–0 (home: 1–6–0–0; road: 4–4–0–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordPointsRecap
12LNovember 1, 20002–4Detroit Red Wings4–6–2–010Recap
13LNovember 3, 20004–5@ Buffalo Sabres4–7–2–010Recap
14LNovember 4, 20002–5New York Rangers4–8–2–010Recap
15WNovember 8, 20004–2@ Florida Panthers5–8–2–012Recap
16LNovember 10, 20001–3@ Tampa Bay Lightning5–9–2–012Recap
17LNovember 11, 20000–2@ Dallas Stars5–10–2–012Recap
18LNovember 14, 20000–1Tampa Bay Lightning5–11–2–012Recap
19LNovember 17, 20003–4@ Washington Capitals5–12–2–012Recap
20LNovember 18, 20001–6Toronto Maple Leafs5–13–2–012Recap
21LNovember 21, 20001–4Florida Panthers5–14–2–012Recap
22WNovember 23, 20006–0@ Atlanta Thrashers6–14–2–014Recap
23LNovember 25, 20003–5Buffalo Sabres6–15–2–014Recap
24WNovember 27, 20003–2Atlanta Thrashers7–15–2–016Recap
25WNovember 29, 20003–2@ Edmonton Oilers8–15–2–018Recap
26WNovember 30, 20004–3@ Vancouver Canucks9–15–2–020Recap :
December: 1–8–2–2 (home: 1–5–1–0; road: 0–3–1–2)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordPointsRecap
27TDecember 2, 20001–1 OT@ Calgary Flames9–15–3–021Recap
28LDecember 5, 20002–3Buffalo Sabres9–16–3–021Recap
29LDecember 8, 20000–1@ Ottawa Senators9–17–3–021Recap
30LDecember 9, 20002–4Ottawa Senators9–18–3–021Recap
31LDecember 13, 20001–3Calgary Flames9–19–3–021Recap
32LDecember 15, 20001–2@ New Jersey Devils9–20–3–021Recap
33TDecember 16, 20004–4 OTPittsburgh Penguins9–20–4–022Recap
34LDecember 18, 20000–2Columbus Blue Jackets9–21–4–022Recap
35WDecember 21, 20004–2Nashville Predators10–21–4–024Recap
36LDecember 23, 20002–5Toronto Maple Leafs10–22–4–024Recap
37LDecember 27, 20002–3@ Vancouver Canucks10–23–4–024Recap
38OTLDecember 30, 20002–3 OT@ Edmonton Oilers10–23–4–125Recap
39OTLDecember 31, 20004–5 OT@ Calgary Flames10–23–4–226Recap :
January: 7–5–1–1 (home: 4–2–1–1; road: 3–3–0–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordPointsRecap
40WJanuary 2, 20013–0@ New York Islanders11–23–4–228Recap
41WJanuary 5, 20014–3@ Pittsburgh Penguins12–23–4–230Recap
42LJanuary 6, 20013–4@ Ottawa Senators12–24–4–230Recap
43LJanuary 10, 20011–2Boston Bruins12–25–4–230Recap
44WJanuary 12, 20013–0@ Atlanta Thrashers13–25–4–232Recap
45WJanuary 13, 20015–2Phoenix Coyotes14–25–4–234Recap
46OTLJanuary 16, 20012–3 OTCarolina Hurricanes14–25–4–335Recap
47WJanuary 18, 20013–1Tampa Bay Lightning15–25–4–337Recap
48TJanuary 20, 20012–2 OTNew York Rangers15–25–5–338Recap
49LJanuary 23, 20012–5St. Louis Blues15–26–5–338Recap
50LJanuary 24, 20011–3@ Pittsburgh Penguins15–27–5–338Recap
51WJanuary 27, 20014–2Washington Capitals16–27–5–340Recap
52WJanuary 28, 20014–1Ottawa Senators17–27–5–342Recap
53LJanuary 31, 20012–4@ New York Rangers17–28–5–342Recap :
February: 5–6–0–1 (home: 2–3–0–1; road: 3–3–0–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordPointsRecap
54WFebruary 1, 20013–0@ Boston Bruins18–28–5–344Recap
55LFebruary 6, 20010–4New Jersey Devils18–29–5–344Recap
56WFebruary 10, 20015–3New York Islanders19–29–5–346Recap
57WFebruary 11, 20014–3@ Buffalo Sabres20–29–5–348Recap
58OTLFebruary 13, 20012–3 OTColorado Avalanche20–29–5–449Recap
59LFebruary 17, 20013–6Washington Capitals20–30–5–449Recap
60LFebruary 18, 20010–4@ Ottawa Senators20–31–5–449Recap
61LFebruary 21, 20011–2Vancouver Canucks20–32–5–449Recap
62LFebruary 23, 20011–3@ Washington Capitals20–33–5–449Recap
63LFebruary 24, 20011–5@ Toronto Maple Leafs20–34–5–449Recap
64WFebruary 27, 20013–2@ Philadelphia Flyers21–34–5–451Recap
65WFebruary 28, 20014–2Pittsburgh Penguins22–34–5–453Recap :
March: 5–5–3–1 (home: 2–2–1–0; road: 3–3–2–1)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordPointsRecap
66WMarch 3, 20013–1Philadelphia Flyers23–34–5–455Recap
67LMarch 6, 20013–4@ Los Angeles Kings23–35–5–455Recap
68LMarch 7, 20012–4@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim23–36–5–455Recap
69TMarch 10, 20013–3 OT@ Phoenix Coyotes23–36–6–456Recap
70LMarch 12, 20010–3@ San Jose Sharks23–37–6–456Recap
71WMarch 14, 20016–3@ Carolina Hurricanes24–37–6–458Recap
72LMarch 17, 20012–3Boston Bruins24–38–6–458Recap
73TMarch 20, 20013–3 OTFlorida Panthers24–38–7–459Recap
74OTLMarch 22, 20012–3 OT@ Boston Bruins24–38–7–560Recap
75LMarch 24, 20012–3Atlanta Thrashers24–39–7–560Recap
76WMarch 26, 20014–2@ Carolina Hurricanes25–39–7–562Recap
77TMarch 28, 20012–2 OT@ Florida Panthers25–39–8–563Recap
78WMarch 29, 20016–2@ Tampa Bay Lightning26–39–8–565Recap
79WMarch 31, 20014–1Toronto Maple Leafs27–39–8–567Recap :
April: 1–1–0–1 (home: 1–1–0–0; road: 0–0–0–1)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordPointsRecap
80OTLApril 2, 20012–3 OT@ Boston Bruins27–39–8–668Recap
81WApril 5, 20013–2 OTPhiladelphia Flyers28–39–8–670Recap
82LApril 7, 20010–2New Jersey Devils28–40–8–670Recap :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Tie (1 point)
  Overtime loss (1 point) :

## Player statistics
### Scoring

* Position abbreviations: C = Centre; D = Defence; G = Goaltender; LW = Left Wing; RW = Right Wing
* † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Canadiens only.
* ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Canadiens only.
| No. | Player | Pos | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| No. | Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
| 11 | Saku Koivu | C | 54 | 17 | 30 | 47 | 2 | 40 |
| 32 | Oleg Petrov | RW | 81 | 17 | 30 | 47 | −11 | 24 |
| 49 | Brian Savage | LW | 62 | 21 | 24 | 45 | −13 | 26 |
| 26 | Martin Rucinsky | LW | 57 | 16 | 22 | 38 | −5 | 66 |
| 43 | Patrice Brisebois | D | 77 | 15 | 21 | 36 | −31 | 28 |
| 14 | Trevor Linden‡ | RW | 57 | 12 | 21 | 33 | −2 | 52 |
| 63 | Craig Darby | C | 78 | 12 | 16 | 28 | −17 | 16 |
| 25 | Chad Kilger† | LW | 43 | 9 | 16 | 25 | −1 | 34 |
| 22 | Eric Weinrich‡ | D | 60 | 6 | 19 | 25 | −1 | 34 |
| 15 | Dainius Zubrus‡ | C | 49 | 12 | 12 | 24 | −7 | 30 |
| 79 | Andrei Markov | D | 63 | 6 | 17 | 23 | −6 | 18 |
| 8 | Jim Campbell | RW | 57 | 9 | 11 | 20 | −3 | 53 |
| 37 | Patrick Poulin | C | 52 | 9 | 11 | 20 | 1 | 13 |
| 28 | Karl Dykhuis | D | 67 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 9 | 44 |
| 17 | Benoit Brunet | LW | 35 | 3 | 11 | 14 | −4 | 12 |
| 56 | Stephane Robidas | D | 65 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 14 |
| 78 | Eric Landry | C | 51 | 4 | 7 | 11 | −9 | 43 |
| 44 | Sheldon Souray | D | 52 | 3 | 8 | 11 | −11 | 95 |
| 34 | Sergei Zholtok‡ | C | 32 | 1 | 10 | 11 | −15 | 8 |
| 20 | Richard Zednik† | RW | 12 | 3 | 6 | 9 | −2 | 10 |
| 47 | Juha Lind | C | 47 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −4 | 4 |
| 51 | Francis Bouillon | D | 29 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 26 |
| 88 | Xavier Delisle | C | 14 | 3 | 2 | 5 | −5 | 6 |
| 45 | Arron Asham | RW | 46 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −9 | 59 |
| 54 | Patrick Traverse† | D | 19 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −8 | 10 |
| 38 | Jan Bulis† | C | 12 | 0 | 5 | 5 | −1 | 0 |
| 40 | Eric Chouinard | LW | 13 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 52 | Craig Rivet | D | 26 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −8 | 36 |
| 20 | P. J. Stock‡ | C | 20 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 32 |
| 35 | Andrei Bashkirov | LW | 18 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −2 | 0 |
| 24 | Christian Laflamme | D | 39 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −11 | 42 |
| 55 | Matthieu Descoteaux | D | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −2 | 4 |
| 39 | Johan Witehall† | LW | 26 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| 29 | Gino Odjick† | RW | 13 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 44 |
| 60 | Jose Theodore | G | 59 | 1 | 0 | 1 | | 6 |
| 31 | Jeff Hackett | G | 19 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | 0 |
| 29 | Darryl Shannon‡ | D | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −4 | 6 |
| 23 | Francis Belanger† | LW | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 29 |
| 83 | Eric Bertrand | LW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | Enrico Ciccone‡ | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 14 |
| 41 | Eric Fichaud | G | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 |
| 30 | Mathieu Garon | G | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 |
| 46 | Matt Higgins | C | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 2 |
| 71 | Mike Ribeiro | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 38 | Barry Richter | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 2 |
| 61 | Jason Ward | RW | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 12 |

### Goaltending

| No. | Player | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| No. | Player | GP | W | L | T | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
| 60 | Jose Theodore | 59 | 20 | 29 | 5 | 1546 | 141 | 2.57 | .909 | 2 | 3298 |
| 30 | Mathieu Garon | 11 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 233 | 24 | 2.44 | .897 | 2 | 589 |
| 31 | Jeff Hackett | 19 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 477 | 54 | 3.25 | .887 | 0 | 998 |
| 41 | Eric Fichaud | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 4 | 3.87 | .875 | 0 | 62 |

## Awards and records
### Awards

| Type | Award/honour | Recipient |
| League (in-season) | NHL Player of the Week | Trevor Linden (October 23) |
| Team | Jacques Beauchamp Molson Trophy | Oleg Petrov |
| Team | Molson Cup | Jose Theodore |

### Milestones

| Milestone | Player | Date |
| First game | Mathieu Garon | October 6, 2000 |
| First game | Andrei Markov | October 6, 2000 |
| First game | Eric Chouinard | January 16, 2001 |
| First game | Matthieu Descoteaux | February 11, 2001 |
| First game | Francis Belanger | February 17, 2001 |

## Transactions

The Canadiens were involved in the following transactions from June 11, 2000, the day after the deciding game of the 2000 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 9, 2001, the day of the deciding game of the 2001 Stanley Cup Finals.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| June 23, 2000 (2000-06-23) | To Montreal Canadiens Future considerations | To Columbus Blue Jackets 2nd-round pick in 2001 |
| June 24, 2000 (2000-06-24) | To Montreal Canadiens 3rd-round pick in 20004th-round pick in 20005th-round pick in 2000 | To Anaheim Mighty Ducks 2nd-round pick in 2000 |
| June 25, 2000 (2000-06-25) | To Montreal Canadiens 4th-round pick in 2000 | To Pittsburgh Penguins 4th-round pick in 20005th-round pick in 2000 |
| June 25, 2000 (2000-06-25) | To Montreal Canadiens 6th-round pick in 2000 | To Buffalo Sabres 5th-round pick in 2001 |
| December 7, 2000 (2000-12-07) | To Montreal Canadiens Gino Odjick | To Philadelphia Flyers P. J. Stock6th-round pick in 2001 |
| December 18, 2000 (2000-12-18) | To Montreal Canadiens Chad Kilger | To Edmonton Oilers Sergei Zholtok |
| February 21, 2001 (2001-02-21) | To Montreal Canadiens Patrick Traverse | To Boston Bruins Eric Weinrich |
| March 13, 2001 (2001-03-13) | To Montreal Canadiens Jan BulisRichard Zednik1st-round pick in 2001 | To Washington Capitals Trevor LindenDainius ZubrusNew Jersey’s 2nd-round pick in 2001 |

### Players acquired

| Date | Player | Former team | Term | Via |
| July 7, 2000 (2000-07-07) | Eric Bertrand | Nashville Predators | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 7, 2000 (2000-07-07) | Sylvain Blouin | St. Louis Blues | 2-year | Free agency |
| July 7, 2000 (2000-07-07) | Enrico Ciccone | Essen Mosquitoes (DEL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 7, 2000 (2000-07-07) | Eric Landry | San Jose Sharks | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 7, 2000 (2000-07-07) | P. J. Stock | New York Rangers | 1-year | Free agency |
| August 8, 2000 (2000-08-08) | Xavier Delisle | Tampa Bay Lightning | 1-year | Free agency |
| August 22, 2000 (2000-08-22) | Jim Campbell | St. Louis Blues | 1-year | Free agency |
| September 17, 2000 (2000-09-17) | Darryl Shannon | Calgary Flames | 1-year | Free agency |
| January 12, 2001 (2001-01-12) | Johan Witehall | New York Rangers | | Waivers |
| February 15, 2001 (2001-02-15) | Francis Belanger | Quebec Citadelles (AHL) | 2-year | Free agency |
| April 11, 2001 (2001-04-11) | Benoit Gratton | Calgary Flames | | Waivers |

### Players lost

| Date | Player | New team | Via |
| June 23, 2000 (2000-06-23) | Frederic Chabot | Columbus Blue Jackets | Expansion draft |
| June 23, 2000 (2000-06-23) | Turner Stevenson | Columbus Blue Jackets | Expansion draft |
| July 1, 2000 (2000-07-01) | Byron Briske | | Contract expiration (UFA) |
| July 1, 2000 (2000-07-01) | Boyd Olson | | Contract expiration (UFA) |
| July 4, 2000 (2000-07-04) | Shayne Corson | Toronto Maple Leafs | Free agency (III) |
| July 5, 2000 (2000-07-05) | Jim Cummins | Anaheim Mighty Ducks | Free agency (UFA) |
| July 27, 2000 (2000-07-27) | Jesse Belanger | New York Islanders | Free agency (UFA) |
| August 14, 2000 (2000-08-14) | Scott Lachance | Vancouver Canucks | Free agency (UFA) |
| September 9, 2000 (2000-09-09) | Dave Morissette | Lake Charles Ice Pirates (WPHL) | Free agency (UFA) |
| September 20, 2000 (2000-09-20) | Trent McCleary | | Retirement |
| September 29, 2000 (2000-09-29) | Sylvain Blouin | Minnesota Wild | Waiver draft |
| N/A | Jonathan Delisle | Quebec Citadelles (AHL) | Free agency (UFA) |
| December 8, 2000 (2000-12-08) | Enrico Ciccone | | Retirement |
| May 22, 2001 (2001-05-22) | Johan Witehall | EHC Chur (NLA) | Free agency |
| June 6, 2001 (2001-06-06) | Juha Lind | Sodertalje SK (SHL) | Free agency |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Term | Contract type |
| July 7, 2000 (2000-07-07) | Saku Koivu | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 7, 2000 (2000-07-07) | Patrick Poulin | 3-year | Re-signing |
| July 14, 2000 (2000-07-14) | Andrei Markov | | Entry-level |
| August 1, 2000 (2000-08-01) | Andrei Bashkirov | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 1, 2000 (2000-08-01) | Matt Higgins | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 1, 2000 (2000-08-01) | Mike McBain | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 1, 2000 (2000-08-01) | Brian Savage | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 8, 2000 (2000-08-08) | Craig Darby | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 29, 2000 (2000-08-29) | Trent McCleary | 1-year | Re-signing |
| September 1, 2000 (2000-09-01) | Matthieu Descoteaux | 1-year | Re-signing |
| September 1, 2000 (2000-09-01) | Stephane Robidas | 1-year | Re-signing |
| September 4, 2000 (2000-09-04) | Sheldon Souray | 2-year | Re-signing |
| September 6, 2000 (2000-09-06) | Martin Rucinsky | 1-year | Re-signing |
| September 7, 2000 (2000-09-07) | Dainius Zubrus | 2-year | Re-signing |
| September 20, 2000 (2000-09-20) | Craig Rivet | 2-year | Re-signing |
| October 3, 2000 (2000-10-03) | Jose Theodore | 2-year | Re-signing |
| March 29, 2001 (2001-03-29) | Ron Hainsey | 3-year | Entry-level |
| May 4, 2001 (2001-05-04) | Oleg Petrov | 2-year | Extension |
| May 23, 2001 (2001-05-23) | Patrick Traverse | 3-year | Extension |
| May 30, 2001 (2001-05-30) | Patrice Brisebois | 1-year | Extension |
| May 30, 2001 (2001-05-30) | Marc-Andre Thinel | 3-year | Entry-level |
| June 1, 2001 (2001-06-01) | Jerome Marois | 3-year | Entry-level |
| June 4, 2001 (2001-06-04) | Gino Odjick | 2-year | Extension |

## Draft picks

Montreal's draft picks at the 2000 NHL entry draft held at the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta.
| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 13 | Ron Hainsey | United States | University of Massachusetts Lowell (Hockey East) |
| 1 | 16 | Marcel Hossa | Slovakia | Portland Winterhawks (WHL) |
| 3 | 78 | Jozef Balej | Slovakia | Portland Winterhawks (WHL) |
| 3 | 79 | Tyler Hanchuck | Canada | Brampton Battalion (OHL) |
| 4 | 109 | Johan Eneqvist | Sweden | Leksands IF Jr. (Sweden) |
| 4 | 114 | Christian Larrivee | Canada | Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL) |
| 5 | 145 | Ryan Glenn | Canada | Walpole Jr. Stars (EJHL) |
| 6 | 172 | Scott Selig | United States | Thayer Academy (USHS-MA) |
| 6 | 182 | Petr Chvojka | Czech Republic | HC Plzeň Jr. (Czech Republic) |
| 8 | 243 | Joni Puurula | Finland | Hermes Mestis (Finland) |
| 9 | 275 | Jonathan Gauthier | Canada | Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (QMJHL) |