The Canadiens' Record in the Cap Era Isn't Great

How have the Montreal Canadiens fared wins wise in the salary cap era?

When the salary cap was introduced in the collective bargaining agreement after the 2004-2005 lost season, both the league and the owners were confident it would be good for parity. No matter how much you try to level the playing field however, there will always be things you won't be able to control as a professional sports league.

Still, there is no doubt the salary cap has helped in a big way, but to win, teams still have to be good at math and play their cards right to come out on top. Since the 2005-2006 season, the first in the new cap world, some teams have been better than others.

The Big Head Hockey crew has come up with an interesting tidbit of information. They've compiled each team's number of wins since back then and the Montreal Canadiens aren't exactly at the good end of the pack. 

Montreal comes in 23rd out of 30 with 707 wins... The two newest teams were not included since their total would have been quite low, and with good reasons as they're just too young. 

The Boston Bruins come in first with a whopping 840 wins, a mere 133 wins over the Canadiens' total... I think a few legends must be turning in their graves because of that stat. 

Mind you, the Toronto Maple Leafs are not doing all that much better than Montreal. The Leafs come in 18th place with a modest 732 wins, only 25 more wins. That works out to about 6.25 more wins per offensive superstar (you know Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares).

On a more serious note however, the Toronto outfit has fast become the cautionary tale of the salary cap era. By giving huge contracts and full no-movement clauses to all their stars, they handcuffed themselves and ensured they couldn't surround them with a proper supporting cast. 

At the other end of the spectrum, we've got Kent Hughes' Canadiens who have got their first line players locked in eight-year contracts for less than $8 M a year and with very limited trade protection. Nick Suzuki has a modified no-trade clause which allows him to submit a list of 10 teams he cannot be traded to in the last four years of his deal. 

Brendan Gallagher, Josh Anderson and Christian Dvorak have all got modified no-trade clauses but they got them when they signed their last contract. The first two with former general manager Marc Bergevin and Dvorak got it when he signed a six-year deal with the Arizona Coyotes prior to being acquired by the Canadiens. The center has got an eight-team no trade list, while Gallagher has a six-team one and Josh Anderson a five-team one. 

If Hughes keeps on going this way, he'll have the money necessary to sign excellent players when his team is ready to contend and it's time to add some big names on the free agency market. Montreal's record in the cap era might not be good now, but it should improve in the coming years.