Just how good can the Canadiens be in 2025-26?
The Montreal Canadiens’ 2024-25 season was a success, as the team finished 40-31-11 with 91 points, fifth in the Atlantic Division and clinching a playoff birth with the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.
While they may have lost in five games to the Washington Capitals in the first round of the playoffs, it was their first trip to the postseason since their Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2021 and a major step forward in the team’s rebuild.
This summer, the Habs acquired an elite defender in Noah Dobson from the New York Islanders and look poised to continue progressing towards being a contender in top-heavy Atlantic Division.
On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Jonny Lazarus discuss the Canadians’ upcoming season and if they’ll be good enough to do some damage in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Tyler Yaremchuk: The one team in the Atlantic Division I have as my fun wild card: how good is Montreal going to be next year? What if Demodov is a 70-point guy and you just add another 70-point guy to that lineup? What if Noah Dobson helps that blue line takes a step forward?
I’m not going to sit here to try and really convince our YouTube chat that the Habs can win the Stanley Cup. I’m just saying they might be more in the Toronto Maple Leafs conversation than in the Ottawa Senators conversation last year.
Jonny Lazarus: It’s a good point saying they’re more in the Leafs category than in Ottawa, but my one concern with Montreal … they are all skill right now. I don’t know if I see any heaviness outside of Josh Anderson. I know Brendan Gallagher can be a little bit of a pest. Nick Suzuki, I’ll give a lot of credit to, he has some snarl to his game. It’s a little bit quieter because he flies under the radar.
I know Juraj Slafkovsky said he wants to play more like Matthew Tkachuk at the 4 Nations, but I don’t see it consistently enough from him. Also, a very slow first half from him in the last two years, then he heats up in the second half. That line of Cole Caufield, Suzuki and Slafkovsky when they’re buzzing, they’re one of the more fun lines in the NHL. They just need to be a little bit more consistent through the NHL season.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…