Overall team grade - D
The Canadiens are a complete mess one quarter of the way into the 2017-18 season. Embarrassing losses to Arizona (5-4) and Toronto (6-0) at the end of a six-game homestand left Montreal sitting in sixth place in the Atlantic Division with 18 points through 21 games. The Habs actually appear more disorganized in the midst of their current 1-3-1 skid than they were while going 1-6-1 through the first eight games of the season in their worst start since 1941.
Coach Grade - C
Claude Julien has had a huge hole to fill on defense with the departure of Andrei Markov, who formed a formidable pair with Shea Weber at the end of last season. Finding the right defenseman to play opposite Weber has proven elusive and led to musical chairs at three of the six spots on defense, where the second pair of Karl Alzner and Jeff Petry has been a constant but not has not yet lived up to expectations.
GM Grade - D
Marc Bergevin, who thought his defense was better heading into this season than it was last year, is in the unfortunate position of having roughly $9 million of cap space and no immediate prospects of using that to his benefit. With the Canadiens currently on the outside looking into the playoff picture, he might not get an opportunity to make good use of that money this season if the Habs continue to struggle.
Goaltending
Charlie Lindgren - B+
Lindgren got his first NHL shutout in Chicago in his season debut after he was called up from Laval of the AHL because of Price's injury. The 23-year-old native of Lakeville, Minn., won his next start to become the third Canadiens goalie to go 5-0-0 in his first five games in the league and would have earned a solid A if not for his past two outings in a run of seven consecutive starts.
Al Montoya - C
The Canadiens scored 13 goals in the two games the veteran backup goalie won in three starts. With Montoya sidelined by a concussion, Bergevin had little choice but to claim Antti Niemi on waivers to back up Lindgren.
Carey Price - D
Who was that wearing No. 31 for the Canadiens before Carey Price was sidelined by a "minor" lower-body injury? That guy who went 3-7-1 with a 3.77 goals-against-average and .877 (!?!) save percentage in 11 starts bore no resemblance to the 2014-15 Hart Trophy winner, who compiled a 91-38-11 record over the previous three seasons.
Defensemen
Shea Weber - A-
It's pretty much impossible to give anyone on the Canadiens an A grade, but Weber comes as close as anyone can on merit and performance. He remains one of the top defensemen in the NHL and played at least 24 minutes in each of the first 20 games before the debacle against the Maple Leafs on Saturday.
Victor Mete - C+
The 19-year-old was the surprise of training camp and he was the least of the Canadiens' worries playing beside Weber on the top pair through their horrendous start. But Mete's ice time has been slashed as the reality of the jump from major junior hockey to the NHL has set in, and he's a likely candidate to be made available to play for Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship.
Jordie Benn - C
To his credit, Benn has played wherever Julien has needed him, on the left side or the right, where he is more comfortable, and on the third, second, even the first pair, where he has played of late opposite Weber.
Joe Morrow - C
A free agent signing to add depth to a completely revamped defense corps, Morrow has played 11 games, including the past eight, mostly paired with Mete. He is a known quantity to Julien, who coached him in Boston.
Karl Alzner - C-
Montreal's biggest free agent splash, Alzner is the centerpiece of a completely redone left side of the defense in the wake of the departures of Andrei Markov, Alexei Emelin and Nathan Beaulieu. His reputation as a shutdown defenseman has taken a hit while the Canadiens' defense continues to search for an identity through a minus-23 goal differential.
Jeff Petry - D
It was widely expected that Petry would be paired with Alzner, and they were. But it was not widely expected that they would struggle so mightily together, which they have.
Brandon Davidson - D
Davidson has played 11 games, but only two of the past eight since Morrow passed him on the depth chart.
Forwards
Jonathan Drouin - B+
Drouin displayed flashes of the offensive brilliance that enticed Bergevin to trade top prospect Mikhail Sergachev to acquire him from Tampa Bay. Moving him from the wing to be the Canadiens' No. 1 center has been a big ask, and finding wingers to complement his style has been a challenge.
Brendan Gallagher - B+
One of the few bright spots in the Canadiens' lineup, Gallagher scored eight goals while rebounding from a drop in his offensive production, which was partly the result of breaking his left hand each of the past two seasons.
Paul Byron - B
With five goals, Byron is on pace to have his second straight 20-goal season. His speed makes him a threat on the penalty kill, now if only he can start to bury some of those breakaways.
Phillip Danault - B
After ending last season as the center on Montreal's top line, he was re-united for a time with Max Pacioretty, who struggled to find chemistry with Drouin during the Habs' horrendous start. Danault scored twice and had a career-high four points in a 5-4 win against the Rangers on Oct. 28.
Andrew Shaw - B
Like Gallagher, Shaw always brings energy to the right side, and he has clicked nicely on a line with Danault and Pacioretty.
Max Pacioretty - B-
As goes the captain, so go the Canadiens. Montreal is 7-0-0 when Pacioretty scored a goal. But he also failed to record a point during the Habs' 0-6-1 skid from Oct. 7-20, a seven-game losing streak that was their longest since 1939-40.
Artturi Lehkonen - B-
The promising sophomore tried to play through an injury, which helps explain why he managed only two goals and three assists in 18 games before being sidelined indefinitely.
Tomas Plekanec - C+
At 35, the veteran Czech center's best offensive years are behind him. That said, Plekanec has been strong on faceoffs, winning 53.04 percent of his draws, and remains an effective and experienced penalty killer.
Charles Hudon - C
The rookie left wing made the team out of camp and kept his spot in the lineup, but the offense he generated in the AHL hasn't made the jump to the Canadiens yet.
Torrey Mitchell - C-
The versatile and experienced forward has no points in 10 games and has been a regular healthy scratch in favor of the development of Jacob de la Rose.
Alex Galchenyuk - D
With four goals and four assists, Galchenyuk just can't find his way back to the way he played at the beginning of last season, when he had 23 points through 25 games and was the Canadiens' No. 1 center before a knee injury sidelined him for six weeks. He has been used at left wing, right wing, and on every line, but his days as a center are over, at least as long as he remains in Montreal.
Jacob de la Rose - D
The good news is that de la Rose is an early candidate for one of the highlights of the year. The bad news is that the highlight was a spectacular blocker save made by Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky when de la Rose took too much time unloading a shot at a wide open net after receiving a pass on a 2-on-1.
Ales Hemsky - F
Other than a penchant for taking bad penalties, the veteran right wing had nothing to show through seven games without recording a point before he was sidelined because of a concussion. Hemsky did not get the memo about the crackdown on slashing calls and his 10 PIMs proved costly.