Are the streaking Canadiens a legitimate playoff threat?

In case you haven’t been paying attention, the Montreal Canadiens have been making waves over the past month.

While no one expected the Original Six franchise to make it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year, people at least hoped they would be a little more competitive with the level of talent they have, along with the addition of Patrik Laine. However, with Laine getting injured during the preseason, the Habs got off to a rough start, and found themselves near the bottom of the Atlantic Division.

However, things have slowly started to turn for the better in Montreal. With Laine returning in full force, with Cole Caufield and others finding their scoring touches, the Habs have climbed up the standings. The team has gone 10-6 since Dec. 1 and has won four of their last five games. Heading into Monday night’s action, Montreal is just two points out of a Wild Card spot.

On Monday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Arpon Basu of The Athletic joined the show to give his thoughts on whether the Canadiens are playoff contenders.

Arpon Basu: I would fall short of saying this means they’re a playoff team, or whatever. They have played themselves into the mix, which was literally the corporate messaging the Canadiens sent out before the season started.

Frank Seravalli: Are you a believer? Will this team be in the mix?

Arpon: The Canadiens have been ridiculously healthy, especially compared to past seasons…Injuries are going to happen. Things are going to happen. Guys are going to hit slumps. [Juraj] Slakovsky is still not playing at the level we saw last season. Kirby Dach is just coming out of a season-long funk. That’s kind of, in some ways, a cautionary tale in terms of the Canadiens. In other ways, an encouraging sign. They’ve done with some of the key preseason question marks remaining question marks.

Can they stay in the mix? Yeah, I think they can stay in the playoff mix. Let’s be honest, the Eastern Conference is making it easy to be in the mix…They don’t need to play at a ridiculous level to remain in the mix.

You can watch the full segment and entire episode here..