The Montreal Canadiens' most important offseason acquisition will fill one of its most pressing positions this season.

Jonathan Drouin, the Quebec native who was acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning for 2016 first-round pick Mikhail Sergachev, will get a shot at center when he suits up for his hometown club.

While Drouin spent little time up the middle with the Lightning, he's familiar with the position from his junior days with the Halifax Mooseheads. Canadiens head coach Claude Julien hopes to tap into that experience.

"He's played there before, I don't care when it was. It wasn't that long ago," Julien said Monday, according to TSN. "He's got the attributes to be a good centerman. He likes the space, he likes to use all of the ice, and that gives him an opportunity to express himself offensively as we'd all like to see him do."

There has been much summer discussion about who will center the Canadiens' top line in 2017-18 - Drouin or fellow young forward Alex Galchenyuk, who split last season between center and wing.

Julien's comments echo Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin, who also envisions Galchenyuk playing on the wall.

"For his own good, and for our own team's good, we see him more as a winger, and there's nothing wrong with that," Julien said.

The Canadiens coach will soon have the chance to put his line combinations into action, as the team's training camp opens Friday and its first preseason game comes three days later against the Boston Bruins.

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It's looking less and less likely that Erik Karlsson will be ready to play opening night.

The Ottawa Senators' all-world defenseman continues to recover from offfseason surgery to repair torn tendons in his foot, an injury he played through during the postseason. And at a team golf tournament Monday, he reiterated he won't rush a return to the ice.

"I'm going to come back when I'm 100 percent - whether that's in October or November," Karlsson said, per Ian Mendes of TSN 1200.

Still, he doesn't appear too concerned about the process.

The Senators are scheduled to open their season Oct. 5, with 11 additional games over the course of the month.

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Alex Galchenyuk will not line up at center for the Montreal Canadiens any time soon.

General manager Marc Bergevin confirmed this Monday at the team's annual golf tournament. According to The Athletic's Arpon Basu, Bergevin said, "Until further notice, Alex (Galchenyuk) is playing on the wing."

The need for Galchenyuk to play down the middle was tempered by the offseason acquisition of Jonathan Drouin, who projects to play on the top line with Max Pacioretty.

Galchenyuk could potentially be deployed on the right side of this unit, forming a potential powerhouse line atop the team's depth chart.

For his part, Galchenyuk said his goal is to be the best player he can be to help the team, according to Jared Book of Eyes On The Prize.

In 61 games last season, Galchenyuk - a left-hand shot - recorded 17 goals and 27 assists, with the latter amounting to a single-season career high.

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Throughout the month of September, James Bisson and a cast of editors from theScore will share their rankings of the greatest players, teams, and moments in the 100-year history of the National Hockey League. This week's list focuses on the greatest Stanley Cup champions (since there have only been 99 winners, we added a bonus team. You're welcome!)

100-81 | 80-61 | 60-41 | 40-21 | 20-1

Voter List

• James Bisson, National Sports Editor
• Josh Wegman, NHL News Editor
• Sean O'Leary, NHL News Editor
• Esten McLaren, NHL News Editor
• Lucas Casaletto, News Editor
• Michael Amato, Senior News Editor
• Craig Hagerman, NHL News Editor
• Lanny Foster, Senior Social Media Editor
• Arun Srinivasan, News Editor

100. 1929-30 Boston Bruins*

* didn't actually win anything

The '29-'30 Bruins own the distinction of being the best team to not win the Stanley Cup, earning 88 percent of the available points during the regular season only to drop both ends of their two-game Stanley Cup matchup with the rival Montreal Canadiens - the only time they lost back-to-back games all season. It's widely considered the biggest upset in Stanley Cup history.

99. 1937-38 Chicago Black Hawks

How in the world does a team so bad wind up hoisting hockey's most treasured bauble at season's end? The Black Hawks probably wondered that very thing themselves after stumbling to the third-worst record in the league. But the Black Hawks saved the best for last, upsetting Montreal and New York before rolling past Toronto in a four-game Stanley Cup stunner.

98. 1948-49 Toronto Maple Leafs

Toronto became the first team in NHL history to win three consecutive Stanley Cup titles, but the last one certainly didn't come easily. Toronto finished fourth in the six-team league, but used sensational defense and goaltending to knock off the top-seeded Bruins in five games. Toronto followed with an equally impressive four-game sweep of Detroit to complete the three-peat.

97. 1917-18 Toronto Arenas

The first NHL champion didn't even have a formal nickname; the team was simply referred to as the "Arenas" because they were loaned to the Toronto Arena Company by the league. The Arenas were led by inaugural NHL scoring champion Joe Malone, who terrorized goaltenders to the tune of 44 goals in 20 games to win the points title by two points.

96. 1921-22 Toronto St. Patrick's

The St. Pats had one of the most ordinary seasons of any Stanley Cup champion, finishing second in the four-team league with just one more goal scored than allowed. A 1-0-1 win in the two-game playoff series with Ottawa moved Toronto into the final against the Vancouver Millionaires; the St. Pats rallied from 2-1 down in the series with 6-0 and 5-1 wins to claim the Cup.

95. 1927-28 New York Rangers

The Rangers won their first Cup in just their second season in existence, but it wasn't exactly the most dominant unit in franchise history. They needed to hang on for dear life to beat Pittsburgh in the opening round, then fell behind 2-1 in the Stanley Cup against the Maroons after upending the Bruins in the semis. Back-to-back one-goal wins in Games 4 and 5 gave New York the title.

94. 1933-34 Chicago Black Hawks

Coming off a last-place finish the season before, the '33-'34 Black Hawks looked like the real deal - that is, until they dropped seven of their final 11 regular-season games. Turns out, they were just playing rope-a-dope with the competition; Chicago rolled through the postseason, losing just one of eight games on the way to the first Stanley Cup in franchise history.

93. 1966-67 Toronto Maple Leafs

Maple Leafs fans still look fondly on this team as the last to win a Stanley Cup for Toronto, but it certainly didn't shape up as a title-winning unit in the regular season. Yet, despite drawing a nightmare matchup with Chicago in Round 1, Toronto put together one of the biggest upsets in franchise history, upending the Black Hawks in six games before dispatching Montreal in the final.

92. 1952-53 Montreal Canadiens

This was supposed to be the Red Wings' year; they finished 15 points clear of runner-up Montreal atop the NHL regular-season standings with a +/- of 89. But the Wings fell to third-place Boston in the semifinals, providing the Canadiens - who outlasted the Black Hawks in seven games in the semis - an easier path to the Cup. And Montreal obliged, beating Boston in five games.

91. 1918-19 Montreal Canadiens

The NHL's second season saw a new Stanley Cup champion, as the Canadiens - led by Newsy Lalonde's league-best 23 goals and 33 points - rolled past the Ottawa Senators in a five-game rout. Lalonde saved his best for the championship series, as the future Hall of Famer potted 11 goals; Odie Cleghorn added seven while Joe Malone scored five times.

90. 1944-45 Toronto Maple Leafs

Led by enigmatic owner Conn Smythe (pictured above with his wife), the '44-'45 Maple Leafs finished 28 points behind the Canadiens in the regular season table. But none of that mattered in the playoffs, as Toronto upended Montreal in six games in the semifinal before building a 3-0 finals lead on Detroit, then frittering it all away before prevailing 2-1 in a thrilling Game 7.

89. 1923-24 Montreal Canadiens

You can point to the efforts of a trio of goal scorers - Billy Boucher (16), Aurele Joliat (15), and Howie Morenz (13) - for guiding the good ship Canadien on offense, but it was Georges Vezina (pictured above) who was the real star of this team. Vezina posted a 1.97 GAA during the season and allowed just two goals in the two-game final triumph over Ottawa.

88. 1925-26 Montreal Maroons

Two players did the majority of the heavy lifting for this edition of the Maroons, who finished second in the regular-season standings. Nels Stewart (pictured above) racked up a league-best 34 goals in 36 games to pace the league's third-best offense, while Clint Benedict allowed five goals in four postseason games to lead the Maroons to their first Stanley Cup championship.

87. 2011-12 Los Angeles Kings

We know what you're thinking: Finally, a color photo! The 2011-'12 Kings are considered the worst Stanley Cup champion of the modern era, finishing 29th out of 30 NHL teams in scoring while entering the playoffs as the No. 8 seed in the West. But the Kings caught fire at the right time, going 16-4 in the playoffs - capped by a six-game triumph over the New Jersey Devils.

86. 1963-64 Toronto Maple Leafs

A hum-drum regular season gave way to one of the most entertaining Stanley Cup finals in history. The Maple Leafs and Red Wings split the first six games, with five of those contests decided by a goal and two decided in overtime. But there was nothing closely contested about Game 7, in which Toronto rolled to a 4-0 victory en route to its third straight Stanley Cup title.

85. 1960-61 Chicago Black Hawks

The Bobby Hull-led Black Hawks finished a distant third in the NHL standings that year, as usual powerhouses Montreal and Toronto dominated. But things changed dramatically once the postseason began, as Chicago knocked off the vaunted Canadiens in six games before doing the same to the Red Wings, who had upset the favored Maple Leafs in the semifinals.

84. 1932-33 New York Rangers

This edition of the Rangers gets a bit of a raw deal in our rankings; it led the NHL in goals that season and finished tied with Toronto for the third-most points in the nine-team league. New York was even better in the playoffs, losing just one of eight postseason contests to claim the second Stanley Cup championship in franchise history.

83. 1935-36 Detroit Red Wings

The Red Wings finished the regular season atop the league standings, but it was as jumbled a leaderboard the NHL has ever seen: Six of the eight teams in the league finished within six points of one another, making the fight for the Stanley Cup a true toss-up. But Detroit prevailed comfortably, sweeping the Maroons in the semis before defeating Toronto in four games in the final.

82. 1931-32 Toronto Maple Leafs

Toronto christened the brand new Maple Leaf Gardens in the best way possible despite finishing in the middle of the pack in what was one of the most tightly-contested set of standings in league history (just 17 points separated first-place Montreal and last-place New York). The Leafs defeated the Black Hawks and Maroons before sweeping the Rangers in the final.

81. 1941-42 Toronto Maple Leafs

You might remember this edition of the Maple Leafs as the first in pro sports to rally from a 3-0 deficit to win a championship, stunning the rival Red Wings with four straight wins. This Toronto team was also known for having an incredible scoring balance, with 10 players potting between 11 and 23 goals during the regular season.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)

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Dealing veteran stars for up-and-coming talent is one way rebuilding clubs restock their prospect cupboard, and the Vancouver Canucks have a pair of premium trade chips in Daniel and Henrik Sedin.

The 36-year-olds will enter the coming campaign on the final year of $7-million pacts, set to skate for a Canucks squad many pundits project to finish outside of the playoff picture. For a team in transition, the twins could command a significant return on the trade market, but shipping out the two longtime Canucks isn't something on the team's radar.

"They're not going anywhere on trade deadline. They're staying," Canucks president of hockey operations Trevor Linden told Sportsnet's John Shannon. "These guys are going to be Canucks until they decide not to be."

While the Sedins have never won the Stanley Cup, the two like life in Vancouver and take pride in having only suited up for a single franchise.

"We won't play anywhere else," Daniel wrote in The Players' Tribune last week. "If we are going to win a Stanley Cup, if we are going to achieve our dream, we'd only want it to be in Vancouver. If we did it anywhere else, I don't think it would feel the same."

Selected with the second and third picks in the 1999 draft, the Sedins have become the Canucks' all-time leaders over their 16 seasons in Vancouver, topping the charts in games played, assists, and points, while Daniel also holds down the No. 1 spot for goals.

"These guys are tremendous athletes and players, and great ambassadors in our community," Linden added. "From our end, there is no talk of them going anywhere because they're going to finish the year as a Vancouver Canuck."

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The New Jersey Devils agreed to a $25-million, six-year deal with restricted free agent Damon Severson, the team announced Monday.

"We are happy to have Damon under contract through the 2022-23 season," said general manager Ray Shero. "Damon brings an important dimension to our hockey club and he is a young defenseman that we are excited to work with. This deal shows our ownership's commitment in what we continue to build here. We look forward to helping Damon continue to grow and develop as a player."

The deal does not include a no-trade clause, reports TSN's Bob McKenzie.

Severson, a second-round pick at the 2012 NHL Draft, led all Devils defensemen with 31 points last season (three goals, 28 assists), averaging 20:21 of ice time in 80 games.

This new deal makes him the team's second-highest-paid defenseman behind captain Andy Greene.

The contract breaks down by season as 2017-18: $2,500,000; 2018-19: $3,000,000; 2019-20: $4,675,000; 2020-21: $4,675,000; 2021-22: $5,050,000; 2022-23: $5,100,000.

The Devils now have all their free agents signed, leaving the team with $10.367 million in projected cap space, per Cap Friendly. Some of that could be used on Jimmy Hayes or Tim Erixon, both of whom will be at training camp on professional tryouts.

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Hockey fans have been spoiled with high-flying freshmen in recent campaigns, from Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine last season, to the debuts of Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel two years ago.

Entering a new season, while there is no next wave of generational talents on the horizon, a handful of intriguing new faces project to impress. Here's how we've ranked this year's rookie crop:

1. Charlie McAvoy, Boston Bruins

Bruins fans got a sneak peak of McAvoy in last year's playoffs when he stepped into the postseason after a short four-game stint in the AHL. In the opening round of playoff action, McAvoy picked up three assists and finished second among Boston defensemen as he averaged more than 26 minutes per game. He's ready for the next step.

2. Clayton Keller, Arizona Coyotes

If McAvoy doesn't go home with the Calder, it could be because of his former Boston University teammate. Keller has impressed as he's worked his way up the ranks, from a team-leading 11-point performance with the Americans at the world juniors last winter, to seven points in eight games at the world championships. The diminutive dangler also picked up two assists in a three-game trial with the Coyotes.

3. Kyle Connor, Winnipeg Jets

After spending the season's early goings with the Jets, Connor was sent for some refinement in the minors. There, he did as asked, leading the AHL's Manitoba Moose with 25 goals. Part of Winnipeg's next wave of young talent, Connor is ready for full-time NHL duties, and should have the opportunity to show his skill this season on the team's second power play unit.

4. Nico Hischier, New Jersey Devils

The top pick in this year's draft, Hischier is the prime piece of the Devils' rebuild. Whether he makes the immediate jump to the NHL, however, remains to be seen. Should he make the cut, coach John Hynes envisions Hischier slotting in his natural position at center. Defenseman Erik Johnson was the last top pick (2006) who did not make the NHL in his first crack.

5. Mikhail Sergachev, Tampa Bay Lightning

Acquired in the trade that sent Jonathan Drouin to the Montreal Canadiens, the Lightning bolstered their blue line with the addition of Sergachev. The Russian defenseman had a four-game run with the Canadiens last year before being returned to junior, a season which ended in a Memorial Cup victory with the Windsor Spitfires. Sergachev is ready for the next step and could find himself a part of Tampa Bay's defense corps as early as this season.

6. Brock Boeser, Vancouver Canucks

The North Dakota standout got a showing last season with Vancouver, leaving Canucks fans giddy as he came up with four goals and an assist in nine games. While the organization is reluctant to admit it, the rebuild is on in Vancouver - and Boeser is a major building block for the Canucks. The former college winger has a solid chance to make the team this season, bypassing minor-league seasoning.

7. Thomas Chabot, Ottawa Senators

To say last season was a busy year for Chabot would be an understatement. The promising Senators blue-liner was a key piece for Canada at the world juniors, where he came away with 10 points in seven games as the tournament MVP. Chabot was just as impressive in junior, as he was named the CHL defenseman of the year. He could play a major role in the Senators' lineup as early as this season.

8. Joel Eriksson Ek, Minnesota Wild

Beginning the year with the Wild before being reassigned to Sweden, Eriksson Ek racked up the Air Miles last season. He returned to Minnesota later in the year, concluding his first NHL season with seven points in 15 games, doing so as he averaged less than 11 minutes of ice time per night. The dynamic center is expected to take hold of a middle-six role with the Wild this season.

9. Josh Ho-Sang, New York Islanders

Beginning last season in the AHL, Ho-Sang learned the pro game and later earned a call up to the Islanders. He never looked back, closing out the season with the big club as he tallied 10 points in 21 games while showing promise as a former first-round pick. Now that he's gotten a taste of the big leagues, the hope is Ho-Sang continues to make strides in his second season.

10. Dylan Strome, Arizona Coyotes

The 2015 top pick behind McDavid and Eichel will turn pro this season, but whether that's with the Coyotes or in the minors remains to be seen. Strome started last season with Arizona but was soon sent back for his fourth campaign with the Otters, the eventual OHL champions. He also captained Canada to a silver medal at the world juniors and finished runner-up at the Memorial Cup, a tournament in which he had a record seven-point game and was named MVP.

11. Tyson Jost, Colorado Avalanche

Not much went right for the Avalanche last season, but one high point was Jost, the 10th pick from the 2016 draft. After just one season with North Dakota, Jost signed with Colorado to kick off his pro career, appearing in the club's final six games of the season. The Avalanche don't have much, so there is plenty of opportunity for Jost to make his mark this season.

12. Mathew Barzal, New York Islanders

After making the Islanders out of training camp a year ago, Barzal appeared in just two games before he was returned to Seattle. With the Thunderbirds, he continued his impressive junior career as he led the team with 69 assists, 20 more than the runner up despite Barzal playing in 25 fewer games. With his junior days done, Barzal should line up with the Islanders this season, and could have a fellow rookie in town in Ho-Sang.

13. Nolan Patrick, Philadelphia Flyers

The one-time favorite of the 2017 draft, Patrick fell one slot behind Hischier before getting scooped up by the Flyers. While both players are natural centers, one reason for Patrick's drop could be his frequency in the infirmary. A sports hernia injury limited him to just 33 games last season, and also sidelined him for the world juniors. While Patrick is expected to suit up for Philadelphia this season, the club could opt to give him more playing time by returning him to junior.

14. Alexander Nylander, Buffalo Sabres

After just one year in junior, the Sabres assigned Nylander to the minors last season where he appeared in 65 games with the AHL's Rochester Americans. In retrospect, returning Nylander to the OHL's Mississauga Steelheads may have been the better move, as he only had a limited offensive impact with Rochester, scoring 28 points. A late-season showing in Buffalo gave fans an early look at the eighth pick from 2016, with Nylander registering one assist in four games.

15. Julius Honka, Dallas Stars

Dallas owns a young blue line and it could be even more youthful this season with the addition of Honka, the 14th pick from 2014. The Finnish rearguard has spent the past three seasons in the minors, making big strides at the pro level. A series of recalls saw Honka, 21, appear in 16 games with the Stars last season, in which he recorded a goal and four assists. The betting is he'll see many more games with Dallas this season.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)

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Connor McDavid was disappointed to see two teammates and friends get traded, but he understands that's just part of the game.

The reigning Hart Trophy winner is still processing the departures of Jordan Eberle and Taylor Hall, who were traded away in separate deals about a year apart.

"It never gets easier,” McDavid told Postmedia's Mike Zeisberger. “Jordan’s a great friend. We’re really close. He did a lot for me coming in as a young guy, taking me around Edmonton and kind of taking care of me.

“It’s never easy to lose a friend like Jordan or Taylor. It sucks.”

Eberle was sent to the New York Islanders for Ryan Strome on June 22, and Hall was traded to the New Jersey Devils on June 29, 2016 in a controversial deal for defenseman Adam Larsson.

Related - McDavid responds to Hall trade: 'It's definitely a shock'

McDavid said he was first struck by the frequency of player movement back in his junior days.

"Two months into my second season my roommate got traded. And for me, it was like: 'This is insane … You can’t get close to anyone.' It was so hard for me.

“And then a week later, my other buddy got traded. So, it was like two of my best buddies in the whole world on the team got traded in a week. So for me, it was kind of a rude awakening."

The 20-year-old superstar knows it's a reality of the sports world, but the departures haven't stopped him from keeping in touch with his former teammates.

“Now, in the past two seasons, losing (Hall) and (Eberle) and all these different guys, it just goes to show you that it is a business," McDavid said. "But friendships do last. I talk to Taylor all the time, I was at (Jordan's) wedding … so, like I said, friendships last. Those are the types of bonds you get when you are on a team.”

McDavid and Eberle played together for the last two seasons, and Hall played with McDavid during the 2015-16 campaign. Hall and Eberle were teammates for six seasons beginning in 2010-11.

All three players were first-round picks, with McDavid and Hall going first overall in 2015 and 2010, respectively. Eberle was Edmonton's 22nd overall selection in 2008.

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