2020–21 Montreal Canadiens season

The 2020–21 Montreal Canadiens season was the 112th for the club that was established on December 4, 1909, and their 104th season as a franchise in the National Hockey League.
Due to the Canada–U.S. border restrictions brought in as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Canadiens were re-aligned with the other six Canadian franchises into the newly-formed North Division. The league's 56 game season was played entirely within the new divisions, meaning that Montreal and the other Canadian teams played an all-Canadian schedule for the 2020–21 regular season as well as the first two rounds of the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs.
On May 10, 2021, the Canadiens clinched a playoff berth following a 4–3 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers. In the First Round, the Canadiens successfully overcame a 3–1 series deficit to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games. In the Second Round, the Canadiens swept the Winnipeg Jets in four games. As a result of reseeding, they competed against the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Semifinals, defeating them in six games. The Canadiens won the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl, and advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1993. They also ended a 10-year Canadian team Stanley Cup Finals appearance drought, the Vancouver Canucks (in 2011) being the previous Canadian team to reach the Finals. In the Stanley Cup Finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Canadiens lost the first three games of the series, finally earning a win in game four. However, the Canadiens were defeated in five games.
==Standings==
===Divisional standings===
==Schedule and results==
===Regular season===
The regular season schedule was published on December 23, 2020.
2020–21 game log 	2020–21 game log 	2020–21 game log 	2020–21 game log 	2020–21 game log 	2020–21 game log 	2020–21 game log 	2020–21 game log 	2020–21 game log 	2020–21 game log 	2020–21 game log
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January: 5–1–2 (Home: 1–1–0 ; Road: 4–0–2)	January: 5–1–2 (Home: 1–1–0 ; Road: 4–0–2)	January: 5–1–2 (Home: 1–1–0 ; Road: 4–0–2)	January: 5–1–2 (Home: 1–1–0 ; Road: 4–0–2)	January: 5–1–2 (Home: 1–1–0 ; Road: 4–0–2)	January: 5–1–2 (Home: 1–1–0 ; Road: 4–0–2)	January: 5–1–2 (Home: 1–1–0 ; Road: 4–0–2)	January: 5–1–2 (Home: 1–1–0 ; Road: 4–0–2)	January: 5–1–2 (Home: 1–1–0 ; Road: 4–0–2)	January: 5–1–2 (Home: 1–1–0 ; Road: 4–0–2)	January: 5–1–2 (Home: 1–1–0 ; Road: 4–0–2)
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score 	Home 	OT 	Decision 	Attendance 	Record 	Pts 	Recap
1 	January 13 	Montreal 	4–5 	Toronto 	OT 	Price 	0 	0–0–1 	1 	Recap
2 	January 16 	Montreal 	5–1 	Edmonton 	 	Price 	0 	1–0–1 	3 	Recap
3 	January 18 	Montreal 	3–1 	Edmonton 	 	Allen 	0 	2–0–1 	5 	Recap
4 	January 20 	Montreal 	5–6 	Vancouver 	SO 	Price 	0 	2–0–2 	6 	Recap
5 	January 21 	Montreal 	7–3 	Vancouver 	 	Allen 	0 	3–0–2 	8 	Recap
6 	January 23 	Montreal 	5–2 	Vancouver 	 	Price 	0 	4–0–2 	10 	Recap
7 	January 28 	Calgary 	2–4 	Montreal 	 	Price 	0 	5–0–2 	12 	Recap
8 	January 30 	Calgary 	2–0 	Montreal 	 	Allen 	0 	5–1–2 	12 	Recap
===Playoffs===
2021 Stanley Cup playoffs 	2021 Stanley Cup playoffs 	2021 Stanley Cup playoffs 	2021 Stanley Cup playoffs 	2021 Stanley Cup playoffs 	2021 Stanley Cup playoffs 	2021 Stanley Cup playoffs 	2021 Stanley Cup playoffs 	2021 Stanley Cup playoffs 	2021 Stanley Cup playoffs
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North Division First Round vs. (N1) Toronto Maple Leafs: Montreal won 4–3	North Division First Round vs. (N1) Toronto Maple Leafs: Montreal won 4–3	North Division First Round vs. (N1) Toronto Maple Leafs: Montreal won 4–3	North Division First Round vs. (N1) Toronto Maple Leafs: Montreal won 4–3	North Division First Round vs. (N1) Toronto Maple Leafs: Montreal won 4–3	North Division First Round vs. (N1) Toronto Maple Leafs: Montreal won 4–3	North Division First Round vs. (N1) Toronto Maple Leafs: Montreal won 4–3	North Division First Round vs. (N1) Toronto Maple Leafs: Montreal won 4–3	North Division First Round vs. (N1) Toronto Maple Leafs: Montreal won 4–3	North Division First Round vs. (N1) Toronto Maple Leafs: Montreal won 4–3
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score 	Home 	OT 	Decision 	Attendance 	Series 	Recap
1 	May 20 	Montreal 	2–1 	Toronto 	 	Price 	0 	1–0 	Recap
2 	May 22 	Montreal 	1–5 	Toronto 	 	Price 	0 	1–1 	Recap
3 	May 24 	Toronto 	2–1 	Montreal 	 	Price 	0 	1–2 	Recap
4 	May 25 	Toronto 	4–0 	Montreal 	 	Price 	0 	1–3 	Recap
5 	May 27 	Montreal 	4–3 	Toronto 	OT 	Price 	0 	2–3 	Recap
6 	May 29 	Toronto 	2–3 	Montreal 	OT 	Price 	— 	3–3 	Recap
7 	May 31 	Montreal 	3–1 	Toronto 	 	Price 	— 	4–3 	Recap
==Player statistics==
===Skaters===
Regular season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	
 	52	28	16	44	0 	24
 	55	12	30	42	+6 	20
 	56	15	26	41	−5 	26
 	50	10	20	30	0 	8
 	52	17	7 	24	−10	38
 	53	5 	19	24	+9 	24
 	35	14	9 	23	+10	16
 	44	2 	21	23	−8 	20
 	49	9 	12	21	−4 	39
 	56	5 	15	20	−1 	12
 	48	6 	13	19	−4 	33
 	46	5 	11	16	+5 	12
 	41	7 	7 	14	+10	10
 	47	7 	6 	13	−2 	6
 	55	3 	10	13	+28	25
 	47	3 	10	13	+2 	29
 	46	2 	6 	8 	+3 	20
 	41	1 	6 	7 	−16	50
 	54	1 	5 	6 	+1 	21
 	10	4 	1 	5 	−1 	2
† 	21	2 	1 	3 	−10	2
 	14	0 	3 	3 	+3 	6
† 	5 	0 	2 	2 	+1 	0
 	2 	0 	1 	1 	−1 	0
 	6 	0 	0 	0 	−1 	2
 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	8 	0 	0 	0 	−3 	0
† 	13	0 	0 	0 	−11	4
 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
Playoffs
Player	 	 	 	 	 	
 	22	7	9	16	−6	2
 	22	5	9	14	−6	6
 	20	4	8	12	−5	0
 	22	4	6	10	−5	25
 	19	5	3	8 	−5	14
 	21	5	3	8 	−1	10
 	21	2	6	8 	−2	6
 	22	5	1	6 	−1	12
 	22	3	3	6 	0 	10
 	22	2	4	6 	0 	4
 	22	1	5	6 	+4	28
 	20	0	6	6 	−2	6
 	22	0	6	6 	−3	10
 	17	3	1	4 	−1	4
 	22	1	3	4 	−1	6
 	16	1	2	3 	+3	0
 	22	1	1	2 	−6	16
 	7 	1	1	2 	+3	4
 	4 	1	0	1 	−2	0
 	13	0	1	1 	−4	4
 	5 	0	1	1 	−2	2
 	13	0	0	0 	−4	0
===Goaltenders===
Regular season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	25	25	1,478:45	12	7 	5	65	2.64	659	.901	1	0	0	0
 	29	27	1,702:36	11	12	5	76	2.68	817	.907	0	0	0	2
 	4 	4 	201:54 	1 	2 	1	14	4.16	93 	.849	0	0	0	0
Playoffs
Player	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	22	22	1,341:38	13	9	51	2.28	673	.924	1	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.
==Awards and honours==
===Milestones===
 Regular Season
Player 	Milestone 	Reached 	Ref
Alexander Romanov	1st career NHL game1st career NHL assist1st career NHL point	January 13, 2021 	
Alexander Romanov	1st career NHL goal 	January 18, 2021 	
Joel Armia 	300th career NHL game 	January 21, 2021 	
Artturi Lehkonen 	300th career NHL game 	February 1, 2021 	
Corey Perry 	800th career NHL point 	February 1, 2021 	
Shea Weber 	1000th career NHL game 	February 2, 2021 	
Paul Byron 	100th career NHL assist 	February 25, 2021	
Jeff Petry 	700th career NHL game 	February 27, 2021	
Tomas Tatar 	600th career NHL game 	March 11, 2021 	
Carey Price 	700th career NHL game 	March 15, 2021 	
Nick Suzuki 	100th career NHL game 	March 17, 2021 	
Jake Allen 	300th career NHL game 	March 19, 2021 	
Jeff Petry 	200th career NHL assist 	March 19, 2021 	
Josh Anderson 	300th career NHL game 	April 7, 2021 	
Ben Chiarot 	400th career NHL game 	April 16, 2021 	
Tomas Tatar 	200th career NHL assist 	April 21, 2021 	
Cole Caufield 	1st career NHL game 	April 26, 2021 	
Cole Caufield 	1st career NHL goal1st career NHL point 	May 1, 2021 	
Jon Merrill 	400th career NHL game 	May 3, 2021 	
Alex Belzile 	1st career NHL game1st career NHL assist1st career NHL point	May 8, 2021 	
Paul Byron 	200th career NHL point 	May 10, 2021 	
Cole Caufield 	1st career NHL assist 	May 12, 2021 	
Jesse Ylonen 	1st career NHL game 	May 12, 2021 	
 Playoffs
Player 	Milestone 	Reached
Cole Caufield 	1st career playoff game 	May 24, 2021
Cole Caufield 	1st career playoff assist1st career playoff point	May 27, 2021
Corey Perry 	100th career playoff point 	May 27, 2021
Jake Evans 	1st career playoff goal 	June 2, 2021
Erik Gustafsson 	1st career playoff goal 	June 7, 2021
Alexander Romanov	1st career playoff game 	June 7, 2021
Cole Caufield 	1st career playoff goal 	June 14, 2021
Ben Chiarot 	1st career playoff goal 	June 28, 2021
Alexander Romanov	1st career playoff goal1st career playoff point 	July 5, 2021
==Transactions==
The Canadiens have been involved in the following transactions during the 2020–21 season.
===Trades===
Date	Details 	Details 	Ref
 	To Columbus Blue JacketsMax Domi3rd-round pick in 2020 	To Montreal CanadiensJosh Anderson 	
 	To Tampa Bay LightningSTL's 2nd-round pick in 2020 	To Montreal Canadiens4th-round pick in 20202nd-round pick in 2021	
 	To San Jose SharksANA's 4th-round pick in 2020 	To Montreal CanadiensWSH's 3rd-round pick in 2021 	
 	To Chicago BlackhawksOTT's 7th-round pick in 2020 	To Montreal CanadiensMTL's 7th-round pick in 2021 	
 	To Buffalo Sabres3rd-round pick in 20215th-round pick in 2021	To Montreal CanadiensEric Staal1 	
 	To Detroit Red WingsHayden Verbeek5th-round pick in 2021 	To Montreal CanadiensJon Merrill 	
 	To Philadelphia Flyers7th-round pick in 2022 	To Montreal Canadiens Erik Gustafsson2 	
Notes:
#The Buffalo Sabres will retain 50% of Staal's salary for the remainder of the 2020-21 season.
# The Philidelphia Flyers will retain 50% of Gustafsson's salary for the remainder of the 2020-21 season.
===Contract terminations===
Date	Player 	Via 	Ref
 	Karl Alzner 	Unconditional waivers	
 	Alexandre Alain	Mutual termination 	
===Waivers===
Date	Player 	Team 	Ref
 	Noah Juulsen	to Florida Panthers	
 	Victor Mete 	to Ottawa Senators 	
===Free agents===
Date	Player 	Team 	Contract term	Ref
 	Brandon Baddock 	from New Jersey Devils 	1-year 	
 	Max Friberg 	to Frolunda HC (SHL) 	3-year 	
 	Keith Kinkaid 	to New York Rangers 	2-year 	
 	Tyler Toffoli 	from Vancouver Canucks 	4-year 	
 	Aaron Luchuk 	to Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL)	1-year 	
 	Antoine Waked 	to Indy Fuel (ECHL) 	1-year 	
 	Michael Frolik 	from Buffalo Sabres 	1-year 	
 	Corey Perry 	from Dallas Stars 	1-year 	
 	Christian Folin 	to Vaxjo Lakers (SHL) 	1-year 	
 	Andrew Sturtz 	to Rapid City Rush (ECHL) 	1-year 	
 	Corey Schueneman	from Laval Rocket (AHL) 	1-year 	
 	Vasili Demchenko	to Avangard Omsk (KHL) 	1-year 	
 	Jordan Weal 	to AK Bars Kazan (KHL) 	1-year 	
 	Otto Leskinen 	to Jokerit (KHL) 	2-year 	
===Signings===
Date	Player 	Contract term	Ref
 	Michael McNiven 	1-year 	
 	Noah Juulsen 	1-year 	
 	Josh Anderson 	7-year 	
 	Victor Mete 	1-year 	
 	Xavier Ouellet 	2-year 	
 	Jake Allen 	2-year 	
 	Brendan Gallagher 	6-year 	
 	Kaiden Guhle 	3-year 	
 	Gianni Fairbrother 	3-year 	
 	Cole Caufield 	3-year 	
 	Jan Mysak 	3-year 	
 	Rafael Harvey-Pinard	2-year 	
 	Mattias Norlinder 	3-year 	
 	Lukas Vejdemo 	1-year 	
 	Laurent Dauphin 	1-year 	
 	Brandon Baddock 	1-year 	
==Draft picks==
Below are the Montreal Canadiens' selections at the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, which was held virtually via Video conference call from the NHL Network studio in Secaucus, New Jersey on October 6–7, 2020. Originally scheduled for June 26–27, 2020 at the Bell Center in Montreal, Quebec, the draft was subsequently postponed on March 25, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and moved to such format hereafter. 
Round	# 	Player 	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1 	16 	Kaiden Guhle 	D 	 	Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
2 	47 	Luke Tuch 	LW 	 	U.S. NTDP (USHL)
2 	481 	Jan Mysak 	C 	 	Hamilton Bulldogs (OHL)
4 	1022	Jack Smith 	C 	 	St. Cloud Cathedral (USHS-MN)
4 	109 	Blake Biondi 	C 	 	Hermantown High School (USHS-MN)
4 	1243	Sean Farrell 	LW 	 	Chicago Steel (USHL)
5 	1364	Jakub Dobes 	G 	 	Omaha Lancers (USHL)
6 	171 	Alexander Gordin	RW 	 	SKA-1946 (MHL)
Notes:
# The Chicago Blackhawks' second-round pick will go to the Montreal Canadiens as the result of a trade on June 30, 2019 that sent Andrew Shaw and a seventh-round pick in 2021 to Chicago in exchange for a seventh-round pick in 2020, a third-round pick in 2021 and this pick.
# The Winnipeg Jets' fourth-round pick will go to the Montreal Canadiens as the result of a trade on June 30, 2018 that sent Simon Bourque to Winnipeg in exchange for Steve Mason, Joel Armia, a seventh-round pick in 2019 and this pick.
# The Tampa Bay Lightning's fourth-round pick will go to the Montreal Canadiens as the result of a trade on October 7, 2020 that sent St. Louis' second-round pick in 2020 to Tampa Bay in exchange for a second-round pick in 2021 and this pick.
# The Florida Panthers' fifth-round pick will go to the Montreal Canadiens as the result of a trade on June 22, 2019 that sent Chicago's fifth-round pick in 2019 to Florida in exchange for this pick.
==Notes==
==References==
Montreal Canadiens
Canadiens
Category:Montreal Canadiens seasons
Montreal