The Montreal Canadiens and the host Toronto Maple Leafs play their opening game Wednesday night with both teams exuding optimism about the coming season.
The Canadiens have made changes that have increased expectations.
"We like our team," Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin said Monday during an interview on TSN Radio 690. "A lot of times you want to make changes, bring some people (in), and you're not able to do it."
The Canadiens and Maple Leafs will play a 56-game schedule in the all-Canadian division, a format created because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Among his new players, Canadiens coach Claude Julien has goaltender Jake Allen, defensemen Joel Edmundson and Alexander Romanov, and forwards Josh Anderson and Tyler Toffoli.