Claude Julien reveals season expectations for the Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens head coach Claude Julien was very confident in his team's expectations for next season. He believes that they should be expected to make the playoffs for sure this year.

"That's our goal," Julien said Thursday. "It's always been our goal. If anything, we've set ourselves up to give ourselves a much better chance. I know people are going to say right now, 'What do you expect?' Well, I expect us to make the playoffs. No doubt about it."

The Canadiens definitely made improvements to their roster all around this offseason. Jake Allen was acquired in a trade with the St. Louis Blues, and he will be a super reliable backup goalie behind Carey Price.

Defenseman Joel Edmundson was also acquired via trade with the Carolina Hurricanes to help balance out the backend of the ice. He should slot in very nicely in the Canadiens' defensive core, more than likely playing on the second pairing left side.

In yet another trade, Josh Anderson was picked up from the Columbus Blue Jackets for Max Domi and a third round pick. Then to round out the forward group, Tyler Toffoli signed a 4-year, $17 million ($4.25 million AAV) contract. Brendan Gallagher also received a contract extension in a 6-year $39 million ($6.5 million AAV) deal.

Julien praised the work of the team's general manager Marc Bergevin this offseason, one where he put in a lot of extra hours.

"Marc has done a good job of giving us a team that should make the playoffs."

The Canadiens head coach is so excited about the team's current forward group that he doesn't see a need to number the lines, and instead wants to roll all four lines throughout the season.

The Canadiens had a heck of an offseason, and many experts agree that the team should be able to make a return to the playoffs, but only time will tell.

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