Montreal Canadiens 2025-26 Season Preview

Montreal Canadiens 2025-26 Season Preview

Today we kick off our annual tradition of doing NHL season previews. The 2526 season is less than a couple weeks away from having training camps open. Today we’re going to kick things off with the Atlantic Division and the Montreal Canadians. One of the more interesting teams to watch this coming season. We’ll get into that coming up next. So, welcome back to another video here at TopShelf Hockey. As I mentioned, today we’re kicking off our season preview series, which I do every year. And I usually hold off until September to get things started. I don’t like to do the season previews too early uh because there’s always last minute changes. So there could still be trades. It could be still the odd signing. Uh I mean for the most part most teams are, you know, pretty close to being done their business, but uh sometimes a lot of lastminute stuff happens. There’s still a handful of players out there that are likely going to play in the NHL looking for contracts and there’s still lots of speculation about some trades before the season starts. But we’ll have to get started here. September, we’re less than two weeks from training camp. So, to kick things off today, we’re starting with Montreal. We’re going to go through the Atlantic Division teams and we’ll move on to another division. But I think the Atlantic Division might be the toughest division in hockey. And there’s some really interesting teams to see how things are going to be followed up from last year. So, we’re going to start quickly by recapping how everything went down last year. Then, we’re going to look at their salary cap situation, how things have changed. So, additions, subtractions, any rookies to watch. We’ll look at their projected lineup. and then we’ll take a look at the top questions facing the team going into the season and I’ll give my thoughts on how I think the team will end up performing. So ultimately, let’s do a quick recap here first. For 2425 for the Montreal Canadians, uh they had a pretty good season. I mean, obviously there were there were still stats around the team that need to be improved upon, need to be worked on, but generally speaking, they took a big step forward in their rebuild. They finished with a record of 40, 31, and 11 for 91 points. You’ll see a quick uh snapshot here, courtesy hockeyreerence.com with a quick summary here of their stats. They finished fifth in the Atlantic, but they made the playoffs. They get into the wild card number two spot with the Atlantic division putting five teams in the Eastern Conference playoffs. uh they ended up uh scoring 243 goals and allowing 261, which still gives them a negative goal differential, which I know there’s a lot of people out there that are still kind of, you know, I say negative, but not thrilled with how these results went down and that there’s some that think the team could see a setback this year um because of that. We’ll talk about that a little bit further into the video and give you my thoughts on how I think things will go for the Canadians this year. here. Of course, the Havs made the playoffs. That was the first time uh in a few years. I believe it was three years since they had been in the playoffs. So, a fairly quick rebuild to be honest. They’ve done a pretty good job being aggressive that way. And they ended up losing in the first round against the top team in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Washington Capitals in a fivegame series. Uh still, I think a lot of players um were in the playoffs for the first time and gained some very valuable experience. Obviously a few veterans still around that had been through that before and obviously uh you know still more experience is is never a bad thing, but for a lot of the core guys it was their first crack at it. And you know for some of them um of course they had um even guys like Suzuki and guys have been around a little bit longer um you know obviously had a touch of things back when they were in the playoffs before the rebuild really fully got underway here. Now, their top results from last year, top scorers included Nick Suzuki, had a really good two-way season as well. Uh Nick Suzuki had 89 points and really, I think, elevated his game at both ends of the ice. Uh Cole Caulfield was able to stay healthy, which was a challenge for him early in his career. Um but he did score 37 goals and 70 points, and I if I’m not mistaken, I believe he played all 82 games, which was really good for him. Uh so having a healthy coughfield was a big boost for them. Of course, Lane Hudson burst onto the scene uh from the back end, put up 66 points, being acknowledged as the top rookie in the NHL last year with the Calder Trophy. Obviously, Hudson played a big part um and you know, breaking the puck out, setting up a lot of his teammates, a lot of uh assists. So, we’ll see how things follow up for him in the sophomore campaign. Yuri Lavosski spent more time uh on the top line, but I still think there’s another level to his game. the former first overall pick put up 51 points. But I still think the Hams are hoping that there’s more to his game than being a 50-point player based on that long-term contract. That was pretty lucrative that he signed at the uh as the his rookie contract comes to an end here. Uh Patrick Lane had a pretty good season as well. Uh he put up 20 goals in 33 points, was limited to 52 games after suffering uh a pretty significant injury during the preseason. uh missed a little bit of time after that, but for the most part, you know, uh was productive, scoring a lot of power play goals. Uh can line stay healthy this year and be an even bigger contributor? That’s going to be uh a big question for Montreal as well. Going into the season right now, they’re actually above the salary cap and they’re sitting at $5.9 million. Now, of course, um you know, as far as trades go, we should still probably expect the carrier price contract to be moved. they don’t absolutely have to do it. U but if they don’t, they will be in a very tough confined cap situation that really won’t be ideal. Will make it very challenging for calling players up and could force some players to the miners that maybe shouldn’t be. So obviously the carry price contract is one that we’re watching for for a potential trade here in the days leading up to training camp and the NHL season. Uh clearly Montreal is probably in a situation here where they’re not going to want to have to overpay for a team to take it off their hands. We’ve heard the San Jose Sharks, the Blackhawks, the Penguins being all potential destinations who might take the contract off their hands. Um but, you know, realistically, they probably will have to add some sort of sweetener um with that contract. Now, I don’t know if the sweetener is going to have to be too big given the fact that the uh $5.5 million signing bonus is already paid. there’s not a lot of actual cash out of pocket that’ll have to be paid on this contract by the acquiring team. So, we’ll see. But Ken Hughes is trying to navigate that to give them more cap flexibility. If they can get rid of the price contract, then they can be in a situation where they’re obviously not in LTI. they can acrew cap space uh throughout the season. They can more options for calling players up and just uh will allow them a better opportunity as well to make another acquisition because there’s been a lot of talk around trades that they would still like to add to their center depth. So, we’ll see where things go from there. Now, taking a look at how the team has changed throughout the season. Looking at their additions and subtractions, let’s take a first first look at players that are no longer with this team who helped them get to where they were into 24-2 season. Uh veteran defenseman David Seavard has retired. Uh so he’s no longer with the club on the ice, but he is still uh working with the team in a different off ice capacity. Looks like player development. I know he’s been on ice early on here in the early uh skates ahead of training camp helping out with some of the players and um just kind of being around still being on the ice and helping kind of coach a little bit. So I think that’s that’s a very positive thing. He had a great relationship with a lot of the D. Uh they obviously looked up to him and he’s known him for a few years. So I think that’s uh really good for him to stick around. That’s great for the Canadians. Uh you all aria uh was no longer with the team of course. he was uh departed via free agency. Christian D’vorak, another player, also left via free agency. Uh Raphael Harvey Pernard, no longer with the club. Kaden Primo was moved. Uh Emil Heinman uh of course was involved in the uh the trade with the New York Islanders. Michael Pazetta uh moved as a unrestricted free agent as well. And Logan Mayu of course in the big trade with the St. Louis Blues. And you’re probably seeing a uh graphic on the screen here courtesy of the NHL. Now we’re kind of breaking down all their additions and subtractions as well. So obviously uh you know a lot of players like that we knew were going to be leaving for an extended time like we knew that the uh the time for Arma and D’vorak specifically were uh running out. We knew Seavard was likely retiring ahead of the end of last season as well. So we knew those three guys wouldn’t be back. We suspected Primo would probably move on. Uh Pazetta via agency wasn’t a big shocker. uh Henman and Mayu were probably you know mildly surprising but again with the moves they made I don’t know that we seen some of those moves coming either and to be honest I think they did quite well. Now the additions to the team were uh not a lot but some a couple significant ones including Noah Dobson who comes over in a huge trade with the New York Islanders and signs a big 8-year contract at 9.5 million bucks per season. Uh Dobson of course was a former first round pick. uh had some pretty solid offensive seasons with the Islanders. Uh his numbers were down a bit last year in new GM Matthew Dar I think was a little reluctant to um invest the kind of money into him that he was looking for in a new contract where Montreal seemed obviously pretty uh open to doing so. So of course uh made the big trade with uh the Islanders to make that acquisition. Of course they also made that trade with the St. Louis Blues where they traded Logan Mayu and picked up Zack Bulduk. And um Buluk’s a pretty good looking forward. Scored um at a pretty good clip last year for St. Louis. Probably going to be somebody who can go between the second and third lines. We’ll look at the lineup here momentarily, but it will certainly help with his um with their secondary scoring. And he’s got a really good release and I think long-term has really good potential there. They also brought in Kappo Kacadin uh who will probably to some degree challenge Dobish for the backup role but most likely end up being the number three goalender. Uh they also signed Mark Delgazo as well who will likely end up playing in Laval. As far as some rookies to watch, well, new to the team this year on a full-time basis will be Ivan Demadov. Of course, we got a glimpse of him at the end of last season playing in a few regular season games and then appearing with them in the playoffs. Uh he certainly wowed the fans and got them all excited for his future. So um obviously having a chance to kind of dip his toe in NHL action last year. Uh we’ll see what a full season brings for Demod. He very well could be uh we’ll see. I mean he has the talent. There’s no doubt about that. But we’ll see how things play out for him that he could be in the conversation for the Calder Trophy as well. And for the second straight year the Hams just might have the top rookie in the league. We’ll have to wait and see. But the potential does exist. That much we can certainly say. I do think we’ll see more this year of Oliver Kain and possibly Owen Beck as well. Uh Kaan I think is in a pretty good spot to play uh either on the center or on the wing depending on the injury situations. A couple other things we to look at this year contract extension. So, what other Habs news might we see either uh before the season starts or during and some of those extensions are going to be interesting to watch and and see how things go. Of course, Lane Hudson will likely be the most lucrative deal out of all of them. Uh when and if that gets done, it’s difficult to say. I mean, um there’s no rush here. Lane Hudson if he does not sign ahead of the season or during will be a restricted free for agent. So they don’t have to worry about losing him. So I’m not saying that he won’t sign when I say if it gets done. I just mean if it gets done this year. It could be something that we see next summer. It’s really hard to say. If you’re Lane Hudson, you had a really good rookie season, 66 points. Probably depends on what Montreal is offering you. if they’re willing to offer him money that he doesn’t know that he’s going to be able to, you know, up that anymore, you know, if they offer him the Dobson contract, for example, does he take that or does he think, you know what, I can still take my game to another level? I think I can outperform last year. I’m going to be holding off. I mean, that that’s what he has to decide, right? I mean, Lane Hudson’s been betting on himself for a long time, and obviously, you know, we’ll have to determine that if is it worth signing now, or should I wait. He can still get an 8-year deal next summer as well, cuz that part of the collective bargaining agreement that was u agreed to and will be changing with the 7-year contracts now being the new max if you sign with your existing club, won’t be effective until next September. But the Hudson extension, if and when it gets done this season, will be a big one and will be a storyline to follow for sure. For me, Patrick Lane will also be very interesting. L to me is a player that I’m not 100% convinced just yet that he’s a long-term fixture in Montreal. But I will say this, he’s he scored at a good clip last year. He seems like he’s been a really good teammate. I know he’s admitted that there’s been times in the recent past that he wasn’t enjoying hockey. Um, and he seems to have a lot more fun. It seems to found a good groove. The big key for me is will he fit on a long-term basis on the second line with Ivan Demidov. Demodovv, I think, will be given every opportunity to be on that second line. And if he uh shows and plays the way we think he can and what he showed at the end of last season in his brief limited action, then the big the big question for Montreal long term is who is the the better complimentary players to play with Demadov on a longerterm basis. If they determine that him and L don’t have good chemistry, you could see Buluk get a chance to come up and maybe be that guy too. I just don’t know that line can play in the bottom six. So, there’s some question marks I think. Where does he fit longterm? What does a contract look like? And I’m not real sure how quickly we’re going to get the answer to that question between like where where line a sits and where where Kent Hughes and Ahab sit. But another interesting storyline nonetheless to watch this season. Kirby Doc is also eligible for an extension. I suspect that’s not going to be something we see right away. I think they would need to see Doc come into the lineup. uh be a regular contributor again, show that he can play in the top six and that he can be healthy uh before he gets a contract extension. So, we’ll see where where Doc sits, but he is entering the last year. Uh defenseman Mike Mat and Arbor Jackkeye are also eligible for extensions as well. Again, Mike Mat might be a player as much as I know they really like him um from a multiple assets off the ice and obviously can still play on the ice as well. Like I don’t know that there’s a long-term future for him with the way this decor is now built for the future moving forward, but we’ll have to wait and see. Arbor Jackai, same thing. He’s certainly a player that’s unique. Um, you know, obviously somebody who could be an enforcer. I do think there’s aspects that they like of him, but I think there’s also aspects of Jackie that they want to see improved. And I think both those situations will probably let them play out a little bit before they they rush. Obviously, Jackhai would still be restricted, so no big rush on that front. But those are all players that you could see sign extensions throughout the season. Um, and obviously storylines for Montreal to watch throughout this upcoming year. Now, looking at their projected lineup, um, so we’ll see where things go uh, with what we’re expecting right now as of today. Now, Montreal, like I said, still rumored to maybe make another move here, which could change this, but as of right now, you’re in goalending. You’re going to not really be a huge surprise. Samuel Montbo will be your number one. I expect Jakob Dobish to be your number two and Kappo Kakan is there to challenge him and to be a a reliable third. Now, he would need waiverss uh to go to Laval. Um so, we’ll see. I suspect uh you know, Fowler and Kacan could be your your two goalies for Laval, but we’ll have to wait and see where what they decide to do here. But, um but yeah, that that’s probably how your goalending is going to shake out on the back end. uh your top four defense. I think you’re going to see two pairs of ghouly and Dobson, Hudson and Kerier to me makes sense on the back end and probably Matthysse and Strubal as your third pair with Jack eyee to me probably being the number seven. Uh you could see a scenario as well where Jackey and Strubal kind of alternate if you will and kind of you know depending on the opponent maybe um you know switch it up, right? So if if they feel they need a a heavier presence, the other team has more guys that can fight uh that type of thing, then maybe Jackie plays those games. I don’t know how they do. Of course, throughout the year, there’s always injuries. Nobody completely escapes that. So there’s probably going to be times when either or both of them do maybe play a little bit more as well. But uh I I personally would think that’s how they’re going to go with the the pairs. I think you’re going to see Ghoulie Dobson, Hudson Kerier, and then you’re going to have Mat um play a a slightly reduced role with either Jackie or Stubel as his partner. I do think Strubel based on how things went into end of the year and Jackie kind of being in Marty St. Louis dohouse a little bit having a bit of an edge going into camp, but that’s why training camp is there in preseason to battle and show what you’re capable of. So, we’ll see. the forward group. I suspect the top line will likely remain the same with Suzuki, Cawfield, and Slavosski. They’ve had good chemistry. Don’t see really any reason to change it. If at some point, cuz you know, the lines will get juggled a bit. Um I would be curious to see Demodov on that line instead of Slavoski. uh just to give a little bit of a different dynamic. But with Cfield being a smaller stature player, Suzuki not being overly big, I do like Slavski in the size he brings to that line to add a different dimension. Uh you put Demadov on that line, it could add a different dimension again with the skating and the creativity uh which could be explosive potentially, but you know, in a playoff scenario, I don’t know. I think I kind of like the the mixing of Slavoski there, but we’ll see. That’s going to be something to watch for sure. But I do suspect Deminov to play in the second line. Probably start with line A on the other side. And I I think they’re as of right now, barring a trade, Kirby Doc will have that opportunity to take that number two center spot. But question marks remain over whether or not he will be ready to play in the opening night of the season or is he still going to be rehabbing from that knee surgery. We’ll have to wait and see on that. The third line likely would be Alex New Hook, Zachary Boduk, and then of course on the other side, it’s probably going to be either Joe Valinino who they sign or maybe even Sammy Blle. I do wonder uh where Blle fits on this roster as well. It could even be Oliver Ka. That that third line left wing spot to me is kind of up for grabs. That’s going to be one of the more interesting roster decisions to look at through training camp. Uh but either either Kappan, Valinino or Blle will be the the the guy who goes there with the other two likely being your 13th and 14th forwards. Your fourth line I suspect will be veterans Jake Evans, Brendan Gallagher, and Josh Anderson. Now, the top questions facing this team going into the season, there’s a few of them that I suspect we need answers to to really know the full impact of how this team is going to do this year. But, can Kirby Doc lock down that number two center spot? Will he be ready to start the season? Or do we see the Habs make a trade? Even if they, you know, if Doc’s not ready and they do make that price trade and they free up some cap space, they very well might see if they get the right opportunity to to upgrade, they might make that move. Anyways, so we’ll see. Uh, but that experiment and that that spot in the lineup to me is going to be the most fascinating to watch. Um, of course I do wonder as well having Lane Hudson had such a breakout rookie season offensively and now you add in Noah Dobson who has been a former 70point right shot defenseman. I wonder how they’re going to align their power play for one. Um, you know, obviously Dobson’s been a big power play guy with the Islanders. Hudson’s been a big power play guy this past year with with Montreal. I would suspect they’ll probably go with Hudson on power play one, Dobson on power play two. Uh, we’ll have to wait and see. And I do wonder as well though, having both guys there both playing big minutes, how will that impact their individual stats? You know, could we see Lane Hudson’s production take a little bit of a step back given the minutes that Dobson’s going to log for this team? I mean, clearly Hudson was like head and shoulders above everybody else in that decor from an offensive standpoint last year. he’ll now have somebody um like Dobson who’s a lot more offensively capable and offensively talented to help share the load of the offense. So, I just wonder how that affects their individual statistics. It could affect them in a positive way as a team having more than one guy who could do those types of things, but individually, we’ll see. I also wonder as well, uh veteran players like Brendan Gallagher and Josh Anderson, can they duplicate what they did last year? because to me they both had what I would call bounceback seasons. They played to me better last year than we’ve seen them play in a while. They were both very impactful and had better production and just overall uh kind of, you know, found a spot that worked for them and I wonder if they can keep that up because obviously if they lose production from their bottom six and their secondary scoring that could hurt as well. Like I said, when you have question marks on your second line, right, you’ve got Demodolv, who’s a rookie, uber talented, but unproven. You’ve got a number two center spot that’s got a question mark on it right now. And then you got Patrick Lane, who yes, was productive mostly on the power play. You know, how productive can he be at five on five? Can he be jelling with those other linemates? you know, if that second line is struggling a bit or has some takes um a time to get going, that could be, you know, that could be a big impact early in the year. And then you got a third line uh you know, with New Hook, Buluke, like an unknown left winger on the on the third line right now that’s going to be up for grabs. And then you you’ve got your veterans, you know, that they going to they might be more relied upon than you think. So you could see a scenario. My my biggest fear for the team would be that the first line should be pretty consistent, but that the secondary scoring struggle be beyond that. And that’s I think where some people seem to think that the Hams might take a step back this year before they take a step forward. That they need to defend better. They need to cut down the goals against cuz clearly they had a pretty uh negative like overgative -20 goal differential last year. So to have a chance to duplicate what they did last year and to have any shot at moving up in the standings, they need to cut down on goals against, right? So they need to be better in all aspects. And as you focus on that, sometimes the offense does suffer a little bit. And you know that that if they don’t get the secondary scoring, that top line could be too heavily relied upon. other teams can line match and it could be like that’s to me the the the the scenario that you don’t want to see if you’re a Habs fan unfold and to see them struggle. So, we’ll see. That’s going to be their thing to me that they have to overcome and improve on this year and we’ll have to wait and see how that plays out. The other big question I have is just how impactful can Ivan Demodv be? I know Hams fans are calling him the demagod and they’re super excited with what he brings. And look, I’ve seen all those highlights. I watched him play the couple games at the end of the regular season. I’ve seen him play in the playoffs. The kid looks talented, but not all players, you know, become a superstar 100point guy on your first year in on the first day, right? It takes time. So, you know, how impactful can he be? What’s realistic? I just I don’t want to see a scenario where the expectations are way too high and if he only hits say 50 points this year, which is still really good as a rookie, that people view him as not being successful cuz that just wouldn’t be fair in my opinion. So all in all, I do think my in my opinion that the Habs have all the makings here to take what they did last year and to build upon it. I do think that the trades they made theoretically should work out pretty well. Um, and I don’t think they’re completely done. Um, my like the big thing for me is I do wonder about the ability to defend and cut down on the goals against that. How much they improve there will be a big big factor and just how much they do. They also won a ton in overtime in threeon three. Um, obviously I suspect they can still do that, but you know that’s not playoff hockey for example, right? Like that’s that’s not the format that they use. So you have to be able to win more in regulation, too. So to me, I think Montreal will definitely be in the mix for playoffs. Is it a sure thing? Not 100%. I’m a probably willing to say that I think that the odds are favorable that the Habs make the playoffs, but a lot of it also depends too on the Metro Division. If we see a scenario where it’s three teams there and five Atlantic teams, I like their chances. But if the Metro Division teams improve enough that it goes back to four and four, then it’s going to be tougher to do, right? You know, you’ve got Boston who obviously took a big step back last year. Detroit and Buffalo stumbled again and Montreal and Ottawa both moved up and got into playoff spots. Then you’ve got the Panthers, the Leafs, and the Lightning who I just hard to see them going anywhere right now, right? they’re going to be the three teams that are going to be uh you know the ones to beat and I think probably a best case scenario for them is they have a similar result and squeak in as a wild card team. That’s where I kind of see Montreal being in the mix for. Um but I do think it’s quite possible that they do show improvements and uh still be a really fun team to watch and have lots of interesting questions facing the team this year. So let me know your thoughts and expectations for the Habs for the upcoming 2526 NHL season. We’ll discuss further in the comments. Stay tuned. Of course, we’ll be getting a tiny team preview coming uh pretty well every day here. Sometimes more than one as we get through all 32 teams before the start of the NHL regular season. Thanks for watching and I’ll catch you next time. [Music]

Montreal Canadiens 2025-26 Season Preview
NHL Regular Season 2025-26 is almost ready to begin. Today we preview the Montreal Canadiens. We discuss the additions, subtractions and Predictions for the upcoming seasons. Montreal Canadiens trade Rumours, Montreal Canadiens Top prospects and the 2025 NHL Draft.

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