Seeing a former player from a favourite team thrive in a new environment is surely a bittersweet feeling for any fan. Sometimes a change of scenery is what a disgruntled player needs in order to unlock their full potential. Being in an entirely new environment can be exciting yet overwhelming, especially for younger players still developing. When the environment in question is perhaps the most daunting and nerve-wracking club to play for in the NHL (not to mention the league’s winningest and among the most historical), it may prove to be too much to handle for certain players. Over the course of the team’s history, the Montreal Canadiens have seen heaps of players fail to meet the sometimes lofty and unreasonable expectations set by the fanbase. Some have fizzled out of the league entirely following their departure, but others have managed to excel upon joining new clubs.
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The heightened media attention of today’s NHL has attracted and deterred players alike. However, there are numerous other persisting factors in what causes a player to ultimately succeed or fail with an organization. Coaching style, systems and concepts, role, usage and ice time, and many other facets of the game influence how well a player will perform. The following five players, who were notable Canadiens players for extended periods of time, have managed to blossom upon joining new teams.
Brett Kulak (D, Edmonton Oilers)
Brett Kulak was acquired by the Canadiens in October, 2018 and spent parts of three seasons with the team until he was traded to his hometown Edmonton Oilers in March 2022 (interestingly, the second-round pick acquired by Montreal was used to select current top-prospect Lane Hutson). Kulak posted a career-high of 21 points in 2021-22, recording eight in just 18 games after being acquired by Edmonton. He has since played in 28 playoff games, scoring seven points and consistently playing on the team’s second defense pairing. He demolished his previous career-high of 64 hits by recording 105 in 2022-23, playing in all 82 games for the first time in his career. Never playing more than 57 games in a season in Montreal, the Albertan regularly found himself serving as a seventh defenseman/healthy scratch among a busy Habs defensive corps. He signed a four-year, $11-million extension with Edmonton in July, 2022, and has finally carved out a consistent role among a contending team’s defensive group.
Charlie Lindgren (G, Washington Capitals)
Signed as an undrafted free agent by the Canadiens in 2015 following a stellar season with St. Cloud State in the NCAA, Charlie Lindgren split time between the NHL and the American Hockey League (AHL) until his departure from the team after the 2020-21 season. He topped out at 14 games played with Montreal in 2017-18. He completed his Habs tenure with an even 3.00 goals-against-average (GAA) and a .907 save percentage (SV%). He signed a league-minimum contract with the St. Louis Blues in the summer of 2021, where he started in five games, spending the rest of the season with the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds. His impressive five-game stint (1.22 GAA, .958 SV%) earned him a three-year, $3.3-million contract with the Washington Capitals in July, 2022.
Largely in part to injuries to Washington’s goaltending corps, such as extended absences from starting goalie Darcy Kuemper, Lindgren played a career-high 31 games in 2022-23. While his 3.05 GAA and .899 SV% were certainly underwhelming, he has managed to take his game to another level in 2023-24. Establishing himself as competition to Kuemper’s starting goalie role, the southpaw from Minnesota has started in 35 games, sporting a solid 17-11-5 record, in addition to an exemplary 2.61 GAA (tied for 13th in the NHL) and .914 SV% (10th). His four shutouts rank tied for fifth in the league, two behind the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Tristan Jarry for the league lead.
Surely, very few Canadiens fans expected Lindgren to propel himself into a starting role just three seasons removed from being limited to just three AHL games due to injury, along with zero minutes in the NHL.
Jonathan Drouin (LW, Colorado Avalanche)
Jonathan Drouin was a polarizing player during his turbulent tenure with the Canadiens. Signed to a six-year, $33-million contract in the summer of 2017 after being infamously traded for defenseman Mikhail Sergachev, Drouin struggled to stay healthy and consistently productive throughout the entirety of his contract. He mustered just 48 goals and 186 points across 321 games in a Canadiens uniform, averaging just 53 games played per season. While he scored at a somewhat respectable rate of 0.58 points-per-game, expectations were sky-high upon his arrival after being traded for their top defensive prospect in Sergachev. Drouin actually played 49% of his games for the team in the first two seasons of his contract, averaging just 40 games played per season from 2019-20 until the end of his contract. Unfortunately, he dealt with several off-ice issues such as an extended leave due to insomnia and anxiety he suffered during the 2020-21 season, and was notably absent from the team’s memorable Stanley Cup Final run in 2021.
Following the final season of his contract with the Canadiens, the 28-year-old opted to join his former junior teammate Nathan MacKinnon and company, signing a one-year, $825,000 contract with the Colorado Avalanche. It marked an extreme decline in pay from his previous deal, but he went from playing inconsistent minutes with a bottom-feeding club while being heavily scrutinized to joining a Stanley Cup-contending roster where he was no longer under a microscope. After recording an assist in his first game with the Avalanche on Oct. 11, Drouin went pointless in nine consecutive games and found himself serving as a healthy scratch on multiple occasions. However, since then, he has rekindled his chemistry with MacKinnon, recording 38 points in the past 55 games for a 57-point pace. He has earned his way onto the team’s first power-play unit, playing with the likes of MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. His shooting percentage has also been bolstered from a measly 7.8 percent with Montreal to 12.5 this season.
Phillip Danault (C, Los Angeles Kings)
Victoriaville, Quebec native Phil Danault was certainly no slouch during his time with the Canadiens. He put up at least 40 points in every full season with the team, and finished top-seven in Selke Trophy voting in each of his final three seasons. His beautiful feed to Artturi Lehkonen on the tally that sent Montreal to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final serves as one of the most memorable plays in recent history for the fanbase. Unfortunately, the offseason following that miraculous playoff run, Danault inked a six-year, $33-million dollar contract (identical to the one Drouin signed in 2017) with the Los Angeles Kings. He had been vocal about his desire for a more offensively-inclined role with the team, in addition to his lauded two-way playing style, and ended up finding said role on the other side of the continent.
In his first season in California, he scored a career-high 27 goals — shattering his previous high of just 13. His 25 even-strength goals tied him with the likes of David Pastrnak, Jonathan Marchessault, and MacKinnon. This came just one season removed from scoring just eight goals in 52 games. He recorded a career-best 54 points in the following season, 2022-23, and is on pace for a second consecutive 18-goal season. His 10 points in 13 playoff games as a King serve as a drastic improvement over his nine points in 38 playoff games with Montreal. Los Angeles has honoured his wishes for a more offensive-minded role, as he has been regularly deployed on the power play for the first time in his career. He recorded a respectable 20 power-play points in 2022-23, despite his previous best being just four in a Canadiens uniform. Additionally, his shooting percentage never eclipsed 10 percent with Montreal, but has never dipped below that mark with the Kings.
Artturi Lehkonen (LW, Colorado Avalanche)
Make that two high-calibre left wingers who have thriven in the Mile High City since departing the Canadiens (three had the signing of Tomas Tatar worked out). Perhaps the most notable example of improved play upon joining a new squad, Artturi Lehkonen has seen his offensive production skyrocket since joining the Avs. After being acquired by Colorado in exchange for a second-round pick and defender Justin Barron prior to the 2022 Trade Deadline, Lehkonen has scored at a pace of 29 goals and 62 points per full season — leaps and bounds beyond his previous career-highs of 18 goals and 31 points with Montreal. Despite playing just 64 games in 2022-23 and only 31 this season due to various injuries, the Finnish native has more than doubled his offensive output since joining Colorado, jumping from a pedestrian 0.37 points-per-game to a 0.76 points-per-game.
Related: Avalanche’s Lehkonen Has Been a Steadying Force
In addition to his increased role in one of the NHL’s best offenses, the 28-year-old was a significant contributor during Colorado’s journey to the Stanley Cup in 2021-22. Not only did he record 14 points in 20 playoff games, he scored the series-winning overtime goal to send his team to the Stanley Cup Final for the second-consecutive season. To top it all off, he scored the Stanley Cup-clinching goal in Game 6 of the Final against the two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning. He was rewarded with a five-year, $22-million contract the ensuing summer.
These five players are sure to have left a hoard of Canadiens fans with a bittersweet feeling, emphasized by all five improving and signing career-defining contracts following their departures. It never seems to be easy seeing a longer-term player depart a beloved team. However, the exits of these players tend to often pave way for influxes of younger talent to establish themselves and continue to develop, aiming to fill the voids left by key departures.