The Columbus Blue Jackets are back on the road for their first game of the season against the Montreal Canadiens.

Montreal made some adjustments to their roster this past summer.

Out

D Jonathan Kovacevic was traded to New Jersey.

F Mitchell Stephens signed with Seattle.

F Jesse Ylonen joined with Tampa.

D Jordan Harris was dealt to Columbus.

F Colin White signed with the Barracuda of the AHL.

In

F Alex Barre-Boulet signed as a free agent.

F Patrik Laine and a 2026 2nd rounder were acquired from Columbus for Harris.

Preview

Montreal is in the basement of the East, and the fanbase is not thrilled seeing their team continue to be at the bottom. They are wondering when the next step happens, and they may cost the former Columbus powerplay consultant Martin St. Louis his head coaching job with the Habs.

Laine is still injured for Montreal, so time will tell when he faces his former team. Other former Blue Jackets on this team are David Savard and Josh Anderson.

The Habs have the worst goals against, and Columbus needs to exploit that while things are worsening for both clubs.

Projected Lineups

Montreal Canadiens

Juraj Slafkovsky—Nick Suzuki—Kirby Dach
Alex Newhook—Jake Evans—Cole Caufield
Josh Anderson—Christian Dvorak—Brendan Gallagher
Emil Heineman—Lucas Condotta—Joel Armia

Kaiden Guhle—Mike Matheson
Lane Hutson—David Savard
Arber Xhekaj—Jayden Struble

Samuel Montembault
Cayden Primeau

Scratched —

Injured — Patrik Laine, David Reinbacher, Rafael Harvey-Pinard

Columbus Blue Jackets

Dmitry Voronkov—Sean Monahan—Kirill Marchenko
Cole Sillinger—Adam Fantilli—Yegor Chinakhov
Mikael Pyyhtia—Justin Danforth—Mathieu Olivier
Zach Aston-Reese—Sean Kuraly—Kevin Labanc

Zach Werenski—Dante Fabbro
Ivan Provorov—Damon Severson
Jake Christiansen—Jordan Harris

Elvis Merzlikins
Daniil Tarasov

Scratched — James van Riemsdyk, David Jiricek, Jack Johnson

Injured — Kent Johnson, Boone Jenner, Gavin Brindley, Erik Gudbranson

Players to Watch

Montreal — Cole Caufield — the leading goal scorer for his team was so touched by the loss of Gaudreau, he changed his number to 13 to honor his role model.

Columbus — Jordan Harris — the former Candiens’ draft pick has yet to score a single point in Columbus.

Predicted Final Score

MTL — 2

CBJ — 5

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