# 2003–04 Montreal Canadiens season

The 2003–04 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 95th season of play and their 87th in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Canadiens would return to the playoffs reaching the Eastern Conference Semifinals before being eliminated by the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4–0.

## Offseason

Bob Gainey, who played his entire 16 season NHL career with Montreal, was named the team’s new general manager on June 2, 2003, and assumed the role on July 1 from Andre Savard, who was demoted to assistant general manager.

## Regular season
### Heritage Classic

The Heritage Classic was an outdoor ice hockey game played on November 22, 2003, in Edmonton, Alberta, between the Edmonton Oilers and the Montreal Canadiens. It was the second NHL outdoor game and the first regular season outdoor game in the history of the NHL, and was modeled after the success of the "cold war" game between the University of Michigan and Michigan State University in 2001.
The first NHL game to be played outdoors was in 1991 when the Los Angeles Kings played the New York Rangers in an exhibition game outside Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The event took place in Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium in front of a crowd of 57,167, the largest number of people to ever watch a live NHL game, despite temperatures of close to −18 °C, −30 °C (−22 °F) with wind chill. It was held to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Edmonton Oilers joining the NHL in 1979.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) television broadcast also set the record for most viewers of a single NHL game with 2.747 million nationwide. This was the first NHL game broadcast in HDTV on CBC.
The Canadiens won the game by a score of 4–3.

### Final standings

Northeast Division :
| No. | CR | | GP | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | 2 | Boston Bruins | 82 | 41 | 19 | 15 | 7 | 209 | 188 | 104 |
| 2 | 4 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 82 | 45 | 24 | 10 | 3 | 242 | 204 | 103 |
| 3 | 5 | Ottawa Senators | 82 | 43 | 23 | 10 | 6 | 262 | 189 | 102 |
| 4 | 7 | Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 41 | 30 | 7 | 4 | 208 | 192 | 93 |
| 5 | 9 | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 37 | 34 | 7 | 4 | 220 | 221 | 85 |
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- Tampa Bay Lightning | SE | 82 | 46 | 22 | 8 | 6 | 245 | 192 | 106 |
| 2 | Y- Boston Bruins | NE | 82 | 41 | 19 | 15 | 7 | 209 | 188 | 104 |
| 3 | Y- Philadelphia Flyers | AT | 82 | 40 | 21 | 15 | 6 | 209 | 188 | 101 |
| 4 | X- Toronto Maple Leafs | NE | 82 | 45 | 24 | 10 | 3 | 242 | 204 | 103 |
| 5 | X- Ottawa Senators | NE | 82 | 43 | 23 | 10 | 6 | 262 | 189 | 102 |
| 6 | X- New Jersey Devils | AT | 82 | 43 | 25 | 12 | 2 | 213 | 164 | 100 |
| 7 | X- Montreal Canadiens | NE | 82 | 41 | 30 | 7 | 4 | 208 | 192 | 93 |
| 8 | X- New York Islanders | AT | 82 | 38 | 29 | 11 | 4 | 237 | 210 | 91 |
| 8.5 |||||||||||
| 9 | Buffalo Sabres | NE | 82 | 37 | 34 | 7 | 4 | 220 | 221 | 85 |
| 10 | Atlanta Thrashers | SE | 82 | 33 | 37 | 8 | 4 | 214 | 243 | 78 |
| 11 | Carolina Hurricanes | SE | 82 | 28 | 34 | 14 | 6 | 172 | 209 | 76 |
| 12 | Florida Panthers | SE | 82 | 28 | 35 | 15 | 4 | 188 | 221 | 75 |
| 13 | New York Rangers | AT | 82 | 27 | 40 | 7 | 8 | 206 | 250 | 69 |
| 14 | Washington Capitals | SE | 82 | 23 | 46 | 10 | 3 | 186 | 253 | 59 |
| 15 | Pittsburgh Penguins | AT | 82 | 23 | 47 | 8 | 4 | 190 | 303 | 58 |
Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast
Z – Clinched Conference; Y – Clinched Division; X – Clinched Playoff spot

## Schedule and results
### Regular season

2003–04 regular season :
October: 6–5–0–0 (home: 4–3–0–0; road: 2–2–0–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordPointsRecap
1LOctober 9, 20032–5@ Ottawa Senators (2003–04)0–1–0–00Recap
2WOctober 11, 20034–0@ Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04)1–1–0–02Recap
3WOctober 14, 20035–1Washington Capitals (2003–04)2–1–0–04Recap
4WOctober 16, 20034–1Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04)3–1–0–06Recap
5LOctober 18, 20030–1Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04)3–2–0–06Recap
6WOctober 20, 20032–1Detroit Red Wings (2003–04)4–2–0–08Recap
7WOctober 23, 20033–0New York Islanders (2003–04)5–2–0–010Recap
8LOctober 25, 20032–6Ottawa Senators (2003–04)5–3–0–010Recap
9LOctober 27, 20030–5@ Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04)5–4–0–010Recap
10LOctober 28, 20030–2Boston Bruins (2003–04)5–5–0–010Recap
11WOctober 30, 20031–0 OT@ Boston Bruins (2003–04)6–5–0–012Recap :
November: 4–6–2–1 (home: 1–3–2–0; road: 3–3–0–1)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordPointsRecap
12LNovember 1, 20031–5New York Rangers (2003–04)6–6–0–012Recap
13LNovember 4, 20032–4Edmonton Oilers (2003–04)6–7–0–012Recap
14LNovember 7, 20031–2@ Buffalo Sabres (2003–04)6–8–0–012Recap
15WNovember 8, 20033–0Buffalo Sabres (2003–04)7–8–0–014Recap
16TNovember 11, 20031–1 OTColumbus Blue Jackets (2003–04)7–8–1–015Recap
17LNovember 13, 20031–3@ New York Islanders (2003–04)7–9–1–015Recap
18WNovember 15, 20033–2@ Ottawa Senators (2003–04)8–9–1–017Recap
19OTLNovember 18, 20034–5 OT@ Vancouver Canucks (2003–04)8–9–1–118Recap
20LNovember 20, 20031–2@ Calgary Flames (2003–04)8–10–1–118Recap
21WNovember 22, 20034–3@ Edmonton Oilers (2003–04)9–10–1–120Recap
22LNovember 25, 20032–5Vancouver Canucks (2003–04)9–11–1–120Recap
23WNovember 28, 20035–3@ Washington Capitals (2003–04)10–11–1–122Recap
24TNovember 29, 20031–1 OTFlorida Panthers (2003–04)10–11–2–123Recap :
December: 7–4–3–1 (home: 4–1–1–0; road: 3–3–2–1)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordPointsRecap
25WDecember 2, 20033–2Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04)11–11–2–125Recap
26TDecember 5, 20031–1 OT@ Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04)11–11–3–126Recap
27WDecember 6, 20033–1Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04)12–11–3–128Recap
28LDecember 8, 20032–3Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04)12–12–3–128Recap
29WDecember 10, 20032–1@ New York Rangers (2003–04)13–12–3–130Recap
30LDecember 12, 20032–4@ Florida Panthers (2003–04)13–13–3–130Recap
31WDecember 13, 20035–2@ Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04)14–13–3–132Recap
32TDecember 16, 20031–1 OTBoston Bruins (2003–04)14–13–4–133Recap
33WDecember 18, 20035–4 OTNashville Predators (2003–04)15–13–4–135Recap
34LDecember 20, 20032–4@ Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04)15–14–4–135Recap
35WDecember 22, 20034–1Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04)16–14–4–137Recap
36LDecember 23, 20032–3@ Washington Capitals (2003–04)16–15–4–137Recap
37OTLDecember 27, 20031–2 OT@ Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04)16–15–4–238Recap
38WDecember 29, 20032–1@ Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04)17–15–4–240Recap
39TDecember 31, 20031–1 OT@ Dallas Stars (2003–04)17–15–5–241Recap :
January: 8–5–1–0 (home: 4–3–1–0; road: 4–2–0–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordPointsRecap
40WJanuary 3, 20045–1Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04)18–15–5–243Recap
41WJanuary 4, 20044–1Washington Capitals (2003–04)19–15–5–245Recap
42WJanuary 6, 20043–1Buffalo Sabres (2003–04)20–15–5–247Recap
43LJanuary 8, 20041–4Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04)20–16–5–247Recap
44WJanuary 10, 20048–0@ Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04)21–16–5–249Recap
45WJanuary 13, 20045–2St. Louis Blues (2003–04)22–16–5–251Recap
46WJanuary 14, 20042–1@ Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04)23–16–5–253Recap
47TJanuary 17, 20042–2 OTNew York Rangers (2003–04)23–16–6–254Recap
48WJanuary 20, 20044–1@ Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04)24–16–6–256Recap
49LJanuary 23, 20040–2@ New Jersey Devils (2003–04)24–17–6–256Recap
50LJanuary 24, 20041–4Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04)24–18–6–256Recap
51LJanuary 27, 20041–4@ Buffalo Sabres (2003–04)24–19–6–256Recap
52WJanuary 29, 20043–2 OT@ Minnesota Wild (2003–04)25–19–6–258Recap
53LJanuary 31, 20040–1Boston Bruins (2003–04)25–20–6–258Recap :
February: 8–5–0–0 (home: 5–1–0–0; road: 3–4–0–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordPointsRecap
54WFebruary 1, 20046–4Chicago Blackhawks (2003–04)26–20–6–260Recap
55WFebruary 3, 20044–3@ Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04)27–20–6–262Recap
56WFebruary 5, 20042–1New York Islanders (2003–04)28–20–6–264Recap
57LFebruary 10, 20041–2@ Florida Panthers (2003–04)28–21–6–264Recap
58LFebruary 12, 20043–5@ Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04)28–22–6–264Recap
59LFebruary 14, 20042–5@ Ottawa Senators (2003–04)28–23–6–264Recap
60LFebruary 17, 20041–4Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04)28–24–6–264Recap
61WFebruary 19, 20044–1Calgary Flames (2003–04)29–24–6–266Recap
62LFebruary 21, 20044–5@ Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04)29–25–6–266Recap
63WFebruary 23, 20044–1@ New York Rangers (2003–04)30–25–6–268Recap
64WFebruary 24, 20044–2Ottawa Senators (2003–04)31–25–6–270Recap
65WFebruary 26, 20043–2 OT@ Boston Bruins (2003–04)32–25–6–272Recap
66WFebruary 28, 20041–0 OTCarolina Hurricanes (2003–04)33–25–6–274Recap :
March: 7–4–1–2 (home: 4–1–0–1; road: 3–3–1–1)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordPointsRecap
67WMarch 1, 20042–1New Jersey Devils (2003–04)34–25–6–276Recap
68LMarch 3, 20043–4@ San Jose Sharks (2003–04)34–26–6–276Recap
69WMarch 5, 20044–3@ Phoenix Coyotes (2003–04)35–26–6–278Recap
70WMarch 6, 20044–2@ Los Angeles Kings (2003–04)36–26–6–280Recap
71WMarch 8, 20045–2@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2003–04)37–26–6–282Recap
72OTLMarch 11, 20042–3 OTFlorida Panthers (2003–04)37–26–6–383Recap
73WMarch 13, 20044–3Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04)38–26–6–385Recap
74WMarch 16, 20044–2Colorado Avalanche (2003–04)39–26–6–387Recap
75TMarch 19, 20041–1 OT@ New Jersey Devils (2003–04)39–26–7–388Recap
76WMarch 20, 20043–2New Jersey Devils (2003–04)40–26–7–390Recap
77LMarch 24, 20041–2@ Buffalo Sabres (2003–04)40–27–7–390Recap
78LMarch 25, 20040–4Ottawa Senators (2003–04)40–28–7–390Recap
79OTLMarch 27, 20042–3 OT@ Boston Bruins (2003–04)40–28–7–491Recap
80LMarch 31, 20041–5@ New York Islanders (2003–04)40–29–7–491Recap :
April: 1–1–0–0 (home: 1–1–0–0; road: 0–0–0–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordPointsRecap
81LApril 1, 20040–2Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04)40–30–7–491Recap
82WApril 3, 20046–3Buffalo Sabres (2003–04)41–30–7–493Recap :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Tie (1 point)
  Overtime loss (1 point) :

## Playoffs

2004 Stanley Cup playoffs :
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. (2) Boston Bruins – Canadiens win 4–3
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceSeriesRecap
1April 7Montreal3–0BostonRaycroft17,565Boston leads 1–0Recap
2April 9Montreal2–1BostonOTRaycroft17,565Boston leads 2–0Recap
3April 11Boston3–2MontrealTheodore21,273Boston leads 2–1Recap
4April 13Boston3–4MontrealOTRaycroft21,273Boston leads 3–1Recap
5April 15Montreal5–1BostonTheodore17,565Boston leads 3–2Recap
6April 17Boston2–5MontrealTheodore21,273Series tied 3–3Recap
7April 19Montreal2–0BostonTheodore17,565Montreal wins 4–3Recap :
Eastern Conference Semifinals vs. (1) Tampa Bay Lightning – Tampa Bay wins series 4–0
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceSeriesRecap
1April 23Montreal0–4Tampa BayTheodore18,904Tampa Bay leads 1–0Recap
2April 25Montreal1–3Tampa BayTheodore19,435Tampa Bay leads 2–0Recap
3April 27Tampa Bay3–2MontrealOTTheodore21,273Tampa Bay leads 3–0Recap
4April 29Tampa Bay3–1MontrealTheodore21,273Tampa Bay wins 4–0Recap :
Legend:
  Win
  Loss :

## 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 | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs |
| No. | Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
| 71 | Mike Ribeiro | C | 81 | 20 | 45 | 65 | 15 | 34 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 18 |
| 73 | Michael Ryder | RW | 81 | 25 | 38 | 63 | 10 | 26 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −5 | 4 |
| 11 | Saku Koivu | C | 68 | 14 | 41 | 55 | −5 | 52 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 1 | 10 |
| 20 | Richard Zednik | RW | 81 | 26 | 24 | 50 | 5 | 63 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 2 |
| 44 | Sheldon Souray | D | 63 | 15 | 20 | 35 | 4 | 104 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −2 | 39 |
| 94 | Yanic Perreault | C | 69 | 16 | 15 | 31 | −10 | 40 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −3 | 0 |
| 43 | Patrice Brisebois | D | 71 | 4 | 27 | 31 | 17 | 22 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −5 | 4 |
| 38 | Jan Bulis | C | 72 | 13 | 17 | 30 | −8 | 30 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −6 | 4 |
| 79 | Andrei Markov | D | 69 | 6 | 22 | 28 | −2 | 20 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| 26 | Pierre Dagenais | RW | 50 | 17 | 10 | 27 | 15 | 24 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 6 |
| 37 | Niklas Sundstrom | RW | 66 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 3 | 18 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 2 |
| 51 | Francis Bouillon | D | 73 | 2 | 16 | 18 | 1 | 70 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −6 | 7 |
| 22 | Steve Begin | C | 52 | 10 | 5 | 15 | 6 | 41 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| 90 | Joe Juneau | C | 70 | 5 | 10 | 15 | −4 | 20 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −2 | 4 |
| 17 | Jason Ward | RW | 53 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 3 | 21 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −2 | 2 |
| 24 | Andreas Dackell | RW | 60 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 52 | Craig Rivet | D | 80 | 4 | 8 | 12 | −1 | 98 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| 82 | Donald Audette‡ | RW | 23 | 3 | 5 | 8 | −4 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 5 | Stephane Quintal | D | 73 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 82 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 2 |
| 34 | Jim Dowd† | C | 14 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −3 | 2 |
| 25 | Chad Kilger‡ | LW | 36 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 8 | Mike Komisarek | D | 46 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 34 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| 27 | Alexei Kovalev† | RW | 12 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −4 | 12 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 8 |
| 15 | Darren Langdon | LW | 64 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −2 | 135 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 60 | Jose Theodore | G | 67 | 0 | 3 | 3 | | 4 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | | 0 |
| 65 | Ron Hainsey | D | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 81 | Marcel Hossa | LW | 15 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −3 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 46 | Benoit Gratton | C | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 76 | Jozef Balej‡ | RW | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 32 | Gordie Dwyer | LW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 28 | Karl Dykhuis | D | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 30 | Mathieu Garon | G | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 |
| 88 | Chris Higgins | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 35 | Tomas Plekanec | LW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |

### Goaltending

| No. | Player | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs |
| No. | Player | GP | W | L | T | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI | GP | W | L | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
| 60 | Jose Theodore | 67 | 33 | 28 | 5 | 1860 | 150 | 2.27 | .919 | 6 | 3961 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 333 | 27 | 2.39 | .919 | 1 | 678 |
| 30 | Mathieu Garon | 19 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 480 | 38 | 2.27 | .921 | 0 | 1003 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0.00 | 1.000 | 0 | 12 |

## Awards and records
### Awards

| Type | Award/honor | Recipient |
| League (annual) | NHL All-Rookie Team | Michael Ryder (Forward) |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Sheldon Souray |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Jose Theodore |
| League (in-season) | NHL Defensive Player of the Week | Jose Theodore (March 1) |
| League (in-season) | NHL Offensive Player of the Week | Richard Zednik (March 8) |
| League (in-season) | NHL Rookie of the Month | Michael Ryder (February) |
| League (in-season) | NHL YoungStars Game selection | Michael Ryder |
| Team | Jacques Beauchamp Molson Trophy | Francis Bouillon |
| Team | Molson Cup | Jose Theodore |

### Milestones

| Milestone | Player | Date |
| First game | Michael Ryder | October 9, 2003 |
| First game | Chris Higgins | October 11, 2003 |
| First game | Tomas Plekanec | December 31, 2003 |
| First game | Jozef Balej | January 23, 2004 |
| 1,000th game played | Stephane Quintal | January 6, 2004 |

## Transactions

The Canadiens were involved in the following transactions from June 10, 2003, the day after the deciding game of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 7, 2004, the day of the deciding game of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| June 22, 2003 (2003-06-22) | To Washington Capitals Nashville’s 4th-round pick in 2003 | To Montreal Canadiens 4th-round pick in 20037th-round pick in 2003 |
| March 2, 2004 (2004-03-02) | To New York Rangers Jozef Balej2nd-round pick in 2004 | To Montreal Canadiens Alexei Kovalev |
| March 4, 2004 (2004-03-04) | To Minnesota Wild 4th-round pick in 2004 | To Montreal Canadiens Jim Dowd |
| March 9, 2004 (2004-03-09) | To Vancouver Canucks Sylvain Blouin | To Montreal Canadiens Rene Vydareny |

### Players acquired

| Date | Player | Former team | Term | Via |
| July 4, 2003 (2003-07-04) | Pierre Dagenais | Florida Panthers | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 4, 2003 (2003-07-04) | Jean-Francois Damphousse | Calgary Flames | 1-year | Free agency |
| October 3, 2003 (2003-10-03) | Steve Begin | Buffalo Sabres | | Waiver draft |
| October 3, 2003 (2003-10-03) | Darren Langdon | Vancouver Canucks | | Waiver draft |
| March 19, 2004 (2004-03-19) | Yann Danis | Brown University (ECAC) | 3-year | Free agency |

### Players lost

| Date | Player | New team | Via |
| July 1, 2003 (2003-07-01) | Mariusz Czerkawski | New York Islanders | Buyout |
| July 1, 2003 (2003-07-01) | Randy McKay | | Buyout |
| July 1, 2003 (2003-07-01) | Matt O'Dette | | Contract expiration (UFA) |
| July 29, 2003 (2003-07-29) | Matthieu Descoteaux | Tappara (Liiga) | Free agency (VI) |
| August 25, 2003 (2003-08-25) | Bill Lindsay | Atlanta Thrashers | Free agency (III) |
| September 10, 2003 (2003-09-10) | Gino Odjick | | Retirement (III) |
| January 2, 2004 (2004-01-02) | Donald Audette | Florida Panthers | Buyout |
| March 9, 2004 (2004-03-09) | Chad Kilger | Toronto Maple Leafs | Waivers |
| May 1, 2004 (2004-05-01) | Joe Juneau | | Retirement |
| May 14, 2004 (2004-05-14) | Andreas Dackell | Brynas IF (SHL) | Free agency |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Term | Contract type |
| June 17, 2003 (2003-06-17) | Francois Beauchemin | 2-year | Re-signing |
| June 17, 2003 (2003-06-17) | Eric Fichaud | 1-year | Option exercised |
| July 1, 2003 (2003-07-01) | Chad Kilger | 2-year | Re-signing |
| July 4, 2003 (2003-07-04) | Jonathan Ferland | 3-year | Entry-level |
| July 11, 2003 (2003-07-11) | Alexander Perezhogin | 3-year | Entry-level |
| July 22, 2003 (2003-07-22) | Michael Ryder | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 24, 2003 (2003-07-24) | Mike Ribeiro | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 4, 2003 (2003-08-04) | Gordie Dwyer | 2-year | Re-signing |
| August 26, 2003 (2003-08-26) | Andrei Markov | 2-year | Re-signing |
| September 4, 2003 (2003-09-04) | Matt Shasby | 2-year | Entry-level |
| September 5, 2003 (2003-09-05) | Saku Koivu | 2-year | Re-signing |
| June 1, 2004 (2004-06-01) | Michael Lambert | 3-year | Entry-level |

## Draft picks

Montreal's draft picks at the 2003 NHL entry draft held at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/junior/club team |
| 1 | 10 | Andrei Kostitsyn (RW) | Belarus | CSKA Moscow (RSL) |
| 2 | 40 | Cory Urquhart (C) | Canada | Montreal Rocket (QMJHL) |
| 2 | 61 | Maxim Lapierre (C) | Canada | Montreal Rocket (QMJHL) |
| 3 | 79 | Ryan O'Byrne (D) | Canada | Calgary Hitmen (WHL) |
| 4 | 113 | Corey Locke (C) | Canada | Ottawa 67's (OHL) |
| 4 | 123 | Danny Stewart (LW) | Canada | Rimouski Océanic (QMJHL) |
| 6 | 177 | Christopher Heino-Lindberg (G) | Sweden | Hammarby IF (Sweden) |
| 6 | 188 | Mark Flood (D) | Canada | Peterborough Petes (OHL) |
| 7 | 217 | Oskari Korpikari (D) | Finland | Oulun Kärpät (Finland) |
| 8 | 241 | Jimmy Bonneau (LW) | Canada | Montreal Rocket (QMJHL) |
| 9 | 271 | Jaroslav Halak (G) | Slovakia | Slovan Bratislava Jr. (Slovakia) |