With the Montreal Canadiens missing the playoffs for the second time in three seasons and sitting 28th overall in the standings, head coach Claude Julien said his players need to push to improve and not take for granted that they are locks to make the team next season.

"Some players have to get better or we have to get better players," he told reporters ahead of Tuesday's final home game of the season against the Winnipeg Jets. "I don’t think anybody should come in here next year thinking they got a job. I think it’s important young players come in here wanting to earn their job."

With a 28-39-12 record, the Canadiens struggled out of the gate while injuries to regulars like Carey Price, Shea Weber, Max Pacioretty, Phillip Danault and Andrew Shaw saw the team lean on several young call-ups from the American Hockey League's Laval Rocket.

Denis: Juulsen will be on the Habs next season RDS Hockey analyst Marc Denis joined McKenna and Starr to talk about the Habs weekend and Carey Price tying Jacques Plante on the games played list .

Those players include forwards Daniel Carr, Jacob de la Rose and Michael McCarron, blueliners Noah Juulsen and Brett Lernout and goaltender Charlie Lindgren.

Alex Galchenyuk and Jonathan Drouin are second and third in team scoring and are under the age of 24, but struggled for stretches during the season.

One of the bright spots for the team this year has been the play of Brendan Gallagher, who set career highs in goals (30) and points (51) and is the 2017-18 Molson Cup winner as team MVP.

Antti Niemi has also been solid for Montreal, sporting a 2.42 goals-against average and .931 save percentage with the Canadiens since being picked up off waivers in November.