Montreal Canadiens: 5 burning questions for 2018-19 season

3. How will the D cope with Shea Weber out until December?

Speaking of bad contracts, oh hi Shea Weber. It’s hard to say whether the Nashville Predators deserve credit for not only trading out of a player they signed to a 14-year extension but getting P.K. Subban back, or if Bergevin deserves all the blame.

At least for a while, it looked like Weber would make Habs fans forget about Subban. He put up 17 goals and 42 points and was a force on the powerplay. To give you an idea of how offensively challenged they were that year, Weber was their fifth-best goalscorer. But last season was a different story. It was a frustrating year for Weber as he frequently got hurt before they finally shut him down in February. Even in just 26 games, Weber scored at a .61 points-per-game pace.

As it turns out, his left foot is even worse than anyone thought, since he’ll be out until December. A poor start for the Habs might sink them before he can even come back.

The blue-line options beyond Weber don’t inspire any confidence. A top pairing of David Schlemko and Jeff Petry is laughably bad. Karl Alzner’s signing was one of the most criticized moves of free agency, yet he somehow managed to be worse than that. Victor Mete was one of their few bright spots last season, since a promising young defenseman is even rarer than a unicorn sighting in Montreal. While he should make greater strides this season, one must wonder how much a dysfunctional team environment will stunt his development.

The Habs might have inspired more confidence if they had made a move this offseason to improve their defense. Then again, Bergevin is at the point where he can’t be trusted to make moves anymore.