Our history - The historical website of the Montreal Canadiens

THE REGULAR SEASON

Three weeks before the start of the season on September 18th, 2015, the Canadiens announced that Max Pacioretty had been voted by his teammates as the 29th captain in franchise history. He became the third US-born player to captain the club, joining Brian Gionta (2010-14) and Chris Chelios, who was a co-captain with Guy Carbonneau during the 1989-90 campaign. Tomas Plekanec, Andrei Markov, Brendan Gallagher and P.K. Subban were all named as alternate captains.

On October 7th, the Canadiens began the 2015-16 campaign with a 3-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre. It was the first of nine straight regulation wins Michel Therrien’s troops would pick up to start the year, which not only set a new franchise record in the process, but also a brand new NHL record as well.

Unfortunately, a 5-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Place on October 27th ultimately snapped the winning streak and left the Canadiens one victory shy of tying the best start to a season in league history set by the Toronto Maple Leafs (1993-94) and the Buffalo Sabres (2006-07). Both squads secured victories in their first 10 games of the year.

Two nights later in Edmonton, goaltender Carey Price suffered a lower-body injury that sidelined him for nine games. Mike Condon, who secured a roster spot out of training camp to back up the All-World netminder, was thrust into the starter’s role during Price’s three-week absence.

Price returned to the lineup on November 20th, helping the Canadiens register a 5-3 win over the New York Islanders in Brooklyn. He’d go on to best the Islanders two nights later at the Bell Centre, before suffering a season-ending knee injury on November 25th at Madison Square Garden in a 5-1 win over the New York Rangers. It was later revealed that Price had suffered a medial collateral ligament (MCL) sprain in his right knee. No surgery was required, though.

During that same time period, the Canadiens also lost Gallagher’s services for an extended period of time after the right-winger suffered two broken fingers in his left hand while trying to block a shot from Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk on November 22nd in Montreal. Gallagher underwent surgery and was expected to miss six weeks of action. That put his chances of taking part in the 2016 Winter Classic at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA in jeopardy.

With the likes of Price and Gallagher on the sidelines, the Canadiens began a slide in December that they simply couldn’t get out of for the remainder of the season, winning just three of their 14 games that month leading into a new calendar year.

Things looked like they might have taken a turn for the better on New Year’s Day when Gallagher made a sooner-than-expected return to the lineup and led the Canadiens to a 5-1 win over the Boston Bruins in the Winter Classic with 67,246 fans in attendance. Gallagher picked up a goal and added an assist, while Condon made 27 saves in front of friends and family back home in Massachusetts. The pair earned first and second star honors, respectively.

Unfortunately, the Canadiens didn’t manage to string wins together in the weeks that followed. Therrien’s contingent picked up just three victories in 11 games in January, and only six more wins in February. Jeff Petry played his final game of the year on February 7th after going down with a sports hernia. Tom Gilbert, meanwhile, suited up for his final outing of the season on February 19th before being forced to miss the remainder of the year with a knee injury.

A few days before the February 29th trade deadline, the Canadiens shipped Dale Weise and Tomas Fleischmann to the Chicago Blackhawks in return for Phillip Danault. Then, on deadline day, general manager Marc Bergevin claimed Mike Brown off waivers from the San Jose Sharks, before dealing Devante Smith-Pelly to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Stefan Matteau.

On March 10th, Subban sustained a neck injury in a collision with fellow rearguard Alexei Emelin in a 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres in Montreal. While the injury was deemed to be non-serious in nature, the former Norris Trophy winner did not return to the Canadiens’ lineup for the rest of the season.

With just eight wins between March 2nd and April 9th, the Canadiens closed out the season with a record of 38-38-6 and 82 points. They finished in sixth place in the Atlantic Division, and occupied the 13th spot in the Eastern Conference. It marked the first time since 2012 that the Canadiens had failed to make the playoffs.

Given the plethora of injuries the Canadiens sustained in 2015-16, many youngsters were given their first opportunity to suit up in the NHL ranks throughout the year, including forwards Michael McCarron, Daniel Carr, Charles Hudon, and Ryan Johnston, defensemen Darren Dietz, Morgan Ellis, Joel Hanley, and Brett Lernout, and goaltender Charlie Lindgren. For his part, Lindgren picked up the win in his NHL debut on April 7th in Carolina.

Alex Galchenyuk was named the Canadiens’ Molson Cup Player of the Year. He reached the 30-goal plateau for the first time in his career, and became the third-youngest player in franchise history to achieve the feat. He finished tied for the team lead in goals with Pacioretty in 2015-16. Both players hit the mark in the final game of the regular season on April 9th against the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Bell Centre.

Paul Byron, meanwhile, was named the winner of the Jacques Beauchamp-Molson Trophy, awarded annually to the member of the Canadiens who played a dominant role during the regular season, without earning any particular honor.

In addition to being the Canadiens’ lone representative at the 2016 NHL All-Star Game in Nashville in January, Subban also earned the team’s only finalist nod for an NHL award. He was nominated for the NHL Foundation Player Award for his charitable endeavors in Montreal. At the awards ceremony in Las Vegas, Subban and fellow nominee Matt Martin of the New York Islanders lost out to Mark Giordano of the Calgary Flames.

At the 2016 NHL Entry Draft in Buffalo, the Canadiens made a splash before even making their first-round pick by trading Lars Eller to the Washington Capitals for a pair of second-round picks in 2017 and 2018. They also acquired Andrew Shaw from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for both of the Canadiens’ second-round selections (39th and 45th) in 2016.

When it was finally their turn to step up to the microphone, the Canadiens selected defenseman Mikhail Sergachev from the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires with the ninth overall pick. They would go on to select center William Bitten (70th), defenseman Victor Mete (100th), defenseman Casey Staum (124th), center Michael Pezzetta (160th), and finally defenseman Arvid Henrikson (187th) with their last selection.

Days after the NHL Draft, the Canadiens traded Subban to the Nashville Predators in exchange for Shea Weber on June 29th. Weber will assume Subban’s spot as alternate captain come the start of the 2016-17 season.