Over the 116 years that the Montreal Canadiens have been in operation, several American players have worn the bleu, blanc, rouge. Since the USA celebrated Independence Day earlier this week, let’s take a closer look at the Americans who left their mark in Canadiens history.
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Chris Nilan
While some would list the highest-scoring Americans as the best players, offensive production shouldn’t be the only criterion. To me, one particular player who certainly wasn’t a top scorer played an essential part in the Canadiens’ history: Chris Nilan. The Boston native was a 19th-round pick at the 1979 draft, the 231st selection overall, and nobody could have known back then that he would go on to play 688 games in the NHL. His career spanned over 13 years in the league, 10 of which were spent with the Canadiens.
While he could play hockey (he picked up 225 points), Knuckles, as he was aptly nicknamed, racked up 3043 penalty minutes in the NHL, including 2248 with the Canadiens. Nilan was always there to protect his teammates and never backed down from a fight. Still, the 175 points he picked up in his 523 games with the Habs make him the team’s 95th top scorer of all time with 88 goals and 87 assists.
There’s no denying that he was more than an agitator. Nilan could also score and was a wonderful blend of grit, dedication, and skills. In 1985-86, when the Habs won their 23rd Stanley Cup, Nilan scored 19 goals. The tough guy liked Montreal so much that he stayed in town after retiring and lives there years later.
Max Pacioretty
His stay in Montreal didn’t end well, as there were rumours that he requested a trade, but he remains the highest-scoring American in team history. With 226 goals and 222 assists, he sits 30th in team history with 448 points.
In a bleak offensive era, Pacioretty often was a ray of sunshine, and he put up five seasons of 30-plus goals. I have a lot of respect for the left winger. When he was just a youngster and getting very little ice time in the NHL, he asked to be sent down to the AHL because he felt he needed more ice time to develop correctly.
Of course, you can’t talk about Pacioretty without talking about Zdeno Chara and the hit that sent the former Hab down on the ice motionless, in one of the most worrying moments in franchise history. Thankfully, the injury wasn’t as bad as feared, but that moment took the Canadiens-Boston Bruins rivalry up a notch. More of a quiet leader, it felt like the captain’s C ended up being a burden for the player; he was suited to score goals, but not to speak to journalists on a daily basis.
Chris Chelios
The one that got away. The defenseman won a Stanley Cup with the Canadiens in 1985-86 and the James Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman once with the Sainte-Flanelle. His 64 points as a rookie defenseman in 1984-85 stood as a record mark until last season, when Lane Hutson finally broke it, scoring 66 points.
When he was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks for Denis Savard on June 29, 1990, it was because GM Serge Savard was advised that he had weak knees and probably wouldn’t have a very long career. That was a very poor assessment, considering he spent 26 years in the NHL, not just seven in Montreal.
Still, during his short stay, he played 402 games with the Tricolore and scored 309 points, including 14 game-winning goals, while also accumulating 783 penalty minutes. He is currently the 47th highest-scoring Canadiens of all time, and he comes in eighth place when it comes to defensemen. At 6 feet and 190 pounds, the rugged defenseman feared nothing and no one.
With the Hawks, he would go on to win two more Norris Trophies before being traded to the Detroit Red Wings at the trade deadline in March 1999. With the Wings, he would go on to win two more Stanley Cups, and he eventually retired as a member of the defunct Atlanta Thrashers. In the end, he put up 948 points, making him the top-scoring Canadiens’ defenseman of all time, with Larry Robinson holding 883 points. However, Robinson achieved this in 1202 games, which raises the question of how many points Chelios could have had if he hadn’t been traded.
Mathieu Schneider
Uncle Sam’s country has been a good producer of defensemen for the Canadiens, as it also gave us Schneider. Just like Chelios, he had a very long and prolific career skating in the NHL for 21 years, eight of which were spent with the Canadiens. Montreal drafted him 44th overall at the 1987 draft, in the third round. While he was born in New York, Schneider’s mother was French-Canadian from Thetford Mines, Quebec, who must have been over the moon when he was drafted by one of the two Quebec teams (the Quebec Nordiques still explained back then).
In his 383 games with the Montreal Canadiens, he accumulated 216 points and won the Stanley Cup in 1992-93, the team’s 24th and last victory to date. He is 78th in all-time scoring with the Canadiens and was recently overtaken by sniper Cole Caufield, who now has 219 points. When he was traded to the New York Islanders along with Kirk Muller and Craig Darby, the Canadiens were able to acquire Pierre Turgeon and defenseman Vladimir Malakhov.
Craig Ludwig
The left-shot defenseman was a Canadiens’ third-round pick at the 1980 draft. Ludwig wasn’t an offensive defenseman, and he wasn’t a flashy pick, but he turned out to be a very reliable blueliner with a mean streak.
He spent eight years in Montreal, skating in 597 games and accumulating 137 points, along with 619 penalty minutes. While he only put up one point in the 1985-86 playoffs that culminated in the Canadiens’ 23rd Stanley Cup Championship, he played an integral part in the conquest.
Many other names could have made the list, including Brian Gionta, John Leclair, and Francis Bouillon, but I felt those five were solid picks. Interestingly, Alexander Galchenyuk is 59th in points in Canadiens’ history with 255, while former defenseman Jeff Petry is 63rd with 248. Cole Caufield should overtake them both before the end of the 2025-26 season, as he already has 219 points, surpassing Lane Hutson, who is currently in the top 200 scorers with 66 points. Caufield should soon rocket up those standings. If someone does this exercise in a few years, they should all easily make the list.
Photo credit: Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images
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