Montreal Canadiens
Canadiens Rebuild: Putting The Team’s Growth Into Context
The race for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference has engulfed the narrative surrounding the Montreal Canadiens.
Fans are noticeably frustrated with the team’s lack of success down the stretch, as the Habs have had several opportunities to clinch a playoff berth, but have failed to do so with any semblance of urgency.
Therefore, the frustration is understandable, however, we’re also starting to miss the forest for the trees by focusing on an early appearance in the playoffs.
Keep in mind, this is just the third complete season of the rebuild, and very few teams manage to qualify for the playoffs in such a short time frame. Some teams never even make it to the playoffs following a rebuild, while others take the better part of a decade to earn an invitation to the big dance.
For example, the Buffalo Sabres have not qualified for the playoffs since 2011, whereas the Ottawa Senators are set to play their first playoff series since 2017.
Of course, it helps that numerous Eastern Conference teams have crumbled into dust, but the mere fact that the Canadiens are involved in a playoff race should be considered a significant step forward for the organization.
Individual Growth
Defenceman Lane Hutson is cruising to a Calder Trophy win, and while his rookie performance epitomizes excellence, the best is yet to come for the 21-year-old blueliner.
Top prospect Ivan Demidov only featured in one NHL game, but his immediate and impressive impact points a player with elite potential.
ON TOPIC: Montreal Canadiens Prospect Ivan Demidov Providing More Than Points
Nick Suzuki became the first Canadiens player to reach 80 points since Alex Kovalev in 2007, and will have an opportunity to hit the 90-point mark with a three-point effort in the final game of the year.
The team is still dealing with an overabundance of issues on the blue line, but the Hutson and Kaiden Guhle pairing has quickly established itself as a legitimate top pairing, checking yet another important box in Montreal’s rebuild list.
It’s also worth noting the team’s AHL affiliate happens to be the best team in the league. With a win on Wednesday versus the Belleville Senators, the Laval Rocket will finish on top of the AHL standings.
Of course, there’s a lot of work left to do.
Montreal needs more depth, both up front, and most importantly, on the back end. Their defensive issues continue to stick out like a sore thumb. Head coach Martin St-Louis has grown by leaps and bounds since taking over as head coach, but you’d be hard-pressed to argue he’s done learning.
The Canadiens will also want to eventually graduate top goaltending prospect Jacob Fowler from the AHL, while continuing to funnel talent through the Rocket without the benefit of having high draft picks.
And yet, I can’t help but notice fans that have endured endless rebuilds are casting an envious eye toward Montreal. The same can be said about fans that have watched their team stick with the mediocre status quo, rather than entering into a rebuild in earnest.
Yes, the Montreal Canadiens may miss the playoffs this year, and there’s no guarantee they’ll qualify for them next season, but all things considered, this has been a significant season of growth for the organization, one that has exceeded most expectations, and one that points to a much brighter future.
MSL needs to put Sherrif back in. If he was in against Sens, we win that game. Sherrif gives everyone more time n space, n slows opposing teams down.
Especially when we know Struble and Xhekaj had great results when they played together on the third pairing.
David savard isnt the reason we arent scoring goals but he is one of the reasons the rest of the D have to play so many minutes..
If Montreal misses the playoffs this year it would not break my heart (though I would be very disappointed) but I don’t think losing out would help develop the team. If they miss out when they were all but guarateed a spot after their win over Detroit it would count as an epic collapse that they would have to live with all summer. Maybe they would learn from that but I think they would get more out of a playoff appearance and series against Washington.
My sentiment echoes yours Marc, echoes yours M…
It’s been a great year for the team. Yes some fails but man, the product we ice is amoung the best in the league to watch.
I don’t recall a single person on this site stating we will make the playoffs this year at the start of the season. And now the discontent despite blowing all expectations away. Heineman, Hutson,Kapanen, Dobes and now Demidov have all been added to the mix. Too many rookies? Nope, the pundits were wrong again. They are a vital reason we are in the playoff race in game 82.
The habs have been mediocre for about 25 years, now we have some brilliant talent and as exciting a future as almost any team in the league. They will be talking about Hutsons rookie season in decades ( it’s that special) , and you Marc, above all other journalists, have been tremendous at giving it its proper treatment-Thank you! Ever hear anyone talking crap about the Chelios rookie mistakes?
So making the playoffs would be special but the season has been that already. I think we get in to make it more specialer, as Jon Hamm says.
Well said
I’m so glad we got in this year because I think it’s going to be way harder to get back in next year. We can thank half a dozen teams in the east for crapping the bed in the second half of the season that allowed us to actually make enough gains in the standings to qualify for the playoffs. We can also thank big bounce back seasons from Gallagher and Anderson. We can also thank lights out penalty killing from an Evans seeking a new contract and an Armia not likely to be back. Even Dvorak played his best hockey as a Hab since the 4 Nations break. The loss of UFA vets, and Gallagher and Anderson probably not having as great a season as they had, will make it extremely difficult to get back into the playoffs next year. I don’t think most fans understand how important they have been in what we achieved this season so far. We also won’t be able to count on the absolute failure of so many teams in the east either. Yes, we’ll have Demidov for a whole year, plus the kids will gain invaluable experience in the 4 (or more) games we get in the playoffs this year, but we need to prepare ourselves for not just continuing our linear growth in 2025-2026. Having said that, that’s next year. Now is the time to enjoy the present and savour what our boys have just achieved by getting into the playoffs this year (at least 2 years ahead of schedule in my mind).
Hughes knows that vets are important. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Dvorak and/or Armia back. Beck and Kappanen could use more time in Laval.
In HuGo we trust.
I’d be very surprised to see Dvorak back, and had I been asked earlier in the year I’d say the same about Armia. However, he and Evans comprised a fairly elite PK duo, so I wouldn’t be shocked to see Armia back, but I still would be surprised because it would have to be basically the same term & money as Evans, and with all the kids coming, I’m not sure they want to block yet another roster spot after taking one away by resigning Evans. I can’t imagine Savard being back for any reason (fingers crossed). I agree about trusting HuGo. They’ve done a great job so far overall. There have certainly been a couple of things I disagreed with, but for the most part they’ve had the Midas touch.