from Brendan Kelly of the Montreal Gazette,

So if Les Boys are only as good as last season, that’s simply not good enough. And if they’re a little worse, that’s really not good enough. To channel Pierre McGuire, a bunch of other teams in the East — notably Tampa Bay, Toronto, Buffalo — are probably going to be stronger and the big boys — Pittsburgh, Washington and Columbus — are probably going to be just as good. So standing still ain’t acceptable.

Let’s look at the additions and subtractions. Enter Jonathan Drouin, which is obviously a big plus and I remain upbeat about the Québécois winger. But in the deal, the Canadiens lost Mikhail Sergachev, who might just morph into this generation’s Andrei Markov or better. He’s a prospect, so we’ll have to wait and see, but advance word is beyond good on this young man.

Drouin basically replaces Alexander Radulov, so it’s not progress. Drouin had 21 goals and 53 points last season, while Radu-love had 18 goals and 54 points.

The other thing to keep in mind is that the toothless wonder that is Radulov also brought a certain je-ne-sais-quoi to the team. Fans adored him and he provided much-needed spark for everyone around him, from Alex Galchenchuk to Max Pacioretty. And he was a playoff hero.

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