When the Montreal Canadiens started this season so poorly allowing eight goals regularly in the first two months, it looked like another season of rebuilding. However, the Canadiens have the ninth best record in the league since December 1st.
Problem is the Colorado Avalanche have the third best record in that time frame. Two hot teams met on Saturday night in a massively entertaining contest as the Canadiens fought back to take it to overtime before finally falling 5-4 in a shootout.
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It’s a captivating to watch the evolution of Josh Anderson. He isn’t the shooter that he used to be. If he didn’t evolve his game, it would have been a quick exit from the NHL when his goal totals dropped from 27 to nine.
However, with the aid of Head Coach Martin St. Louis teaching a new way to play, Anderson is a valuable member of the Canadiens. He’s still a power forward, but the power is now in the force he brings to the action, and the fear he instills.
Anderson as the first-forward checking on dump-ins is an absolute menace for the opposition. By the third period, defenders aren’t even sure they want to be a part of it as Anderson is still bringing energy. Against Ottawa recently, Thomas Chabot simply started bailing out.
A complete team has players who bring excellence in different ways. Anderson is excellent on a line with Brendan Gallagher and Christian Dvorak. They are relentless on the forecheck. It’s a line with a work ethic. That’s what a team’s third line does.
In fact, it was that work ethic that produced the tying goal in the third period. Gallagher won the puck battle in the corner and fed to Dvorak who made a great inside-out move then roofed a backhander. Montreal was down 4-1. It was a stunning comeback against an NHL powerhouse.
Juraj Slafkovsky showed exactly what he has to do to find success in this contest. Slafkovsky played to his blueprint on his first period goal: Get in front of the net, use that big body, be unmovable and get your stick in good position for a deflection.
On his third period goal, Slafkovsky showed not more pace on his shot because that pace has long been established. What he did show was a quicker release, and that’s been a long time coming, but is now finally arriving. That’s 16 on the season for Slafkovsky.
Nick Suzuki kept his point-per-game hunt going with an assist on the first Slafkovsky goal. He has 72 points in 69 games.
In the third period, more evidence that Alex Newhook is finding another level this season. Newhook has long had speed, but now he is finally learning how to use it. Instead of slowing down and gliding when he arrives at defenders, he is striding right through them.
Newhook’s ability to cut through defenders led to a shot that Joshua Roy scored on the rebound. Newhook will eventually make GM Kent Hughes look smart with this trade. Newhook’s teammates should start to get into the habit of following him up to the net. What he can’t finish, they should be able to.
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Newhook’s improvement is yet another great development for the Canadiens this season.
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Samuel Montembeault has been revealing an unusual weakness recently. It’s a weakness that is usually a strength for an NHL goalie. The shot from 40 feet is supposed to be handled fairly easily at this level, but it’s the Achilles heel of Montembeault right now.
The first two goals were shots from the point, and both were not screened. It wasn’t just Montembeault, though, who had difficulty. The third pairing of Arber Xhekaj and David Savard was struggling. They were on for both goals against in the first.
Savard has never been the fleetest of foot, but it’s becoming apparent that he can not close down the opposition, especially a team as fast as the Avalanche. The return of Kaiden Guhle is vital. He practiced with the club for the first time on Saturday.
Guhle’s timeline to return from an operation on his quad is unknown, but if it is on the shorter side, it would make a world of difference to this run for a playoff spot.
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It feels like the Canadiens fans are not ready to accept that the rebuild is going as well as it actually is. Could it be that the rebuild only in its 38th month is already this good? By looking at the roster construction, the answer is clearly yes.
Good roster construction is every player is in their natural seat. If a player has to play out of their talent-level rising up to face higher competition than they are able, then losses pile up, and the rebuild is not succeeding.
In the NHL, the top line is required to score 100 goals to be considered elite. There are only five 100-goal lines per season usually. Sometimes, that number rises a bit, but generally, the century mark is a remarkable plateau, and few attain it.
If that top line can also summon strong defensive hockey, then the chance of team greatness grows even more. The Suzuki line is that line. Somehow, Suzuki is plus-10 on a team with a negative 17 differential. The line is on pace for 82 goals this season. A goal-per-game is usually top-ten for a first line. The Suzuki line stands 11th.
When Slafkovsky adds a bit to that overall team total as he seems ready to do next season, then the top line has every player in its natural seat comfortable with their responsibility. They have put a half season together with 53 goals. They can do it again for a full year to be elite.
Line two in the NHL is usually responsible for 65 goals and has an ability to shut down or neutralize the top line of other clubs due to not having the last line change on the road. This is where the Canadiens fell apart this year with among the worst lines in the league in this category.
However, the solutions are on the way. The first solution is the best player not in the NHL today Ivan Demidov, and the second is the promise that GM Kent Hughes has made that he will be aggressive to acquire a centre this off season.
One scenario is a restricted free-agent robbery following like the Blues did to the Oilers of Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway. The Canadiens may acquire that centre giving up draft pick compensation. Marco Rossi is just one example on cap-anxious Minnesota. There are many possibilities.
The third line next year will look different, but better than this year. It’s likely that Alex Newhook will centre that third line. This is a perfect example of a player with an opportunity to excel in a more appropriate seat.
Newhook facing third line competition next season could be a boon for the club, especially considering that he will have Kirby Dach on his wing on one side and an expectation of Josh Anderson on the other side. That’s a third line with more pedigree than any third line in the league.
The fourth line is Jake Evans, Brendan Gallagher, and Emil Heineman. Just where do players like Owen Beck, Oliver Kapanen, Joshua Roy fit in at the moment? It’s a talent rich club at forward simply waiting for a second-line centre to be among the best, top to bottom, in the league depth-wise.
While the top-six may lack a proven superstar, the overall depth will be a formidable challenge for opposition coaches to handle. Soon, after acclimating to the North American game,  they’ll have that superstar in Demidov.
On defence, the excellence for this club continues. With Lane Hutson proving that he can play the right side, that opens up the opportunity for Kaiden Guhle to join him on the top pairing. This will be the best top pair that Montreal has had in a long time.
The second unit is likely to be Mike Matheson and Alexandre Carrier with the third unit Arber Xhekaj and David Reinbacher. The former fifth-pick overall is playing outstanding hockey in Laval, and his progression may not include another season in the minors.
This is more possible if the Rocket have a long playoff run and Reinbacher is a part of it. He won’t need yet another season of development, if he excels in 45 games this year. The prediction here is he will be ready in October for the NHL, especially with light minutes and easier match-ups on the third pair.
Again, the depth is remarkable with Jayden Struble excelling this season, yet, possibly, not able to win a job in October. Adam Engstrom and Logan Mailloux are still waiting for their chance. The Canadiens have, at least, six players with the training required to be NHL regulars, but won’t be able to win a job.
Add more arriving later like Michael Hage, Jacob Fowler, and two first rounders taken this season in the mid-teens to the talent pool and you have quite the opportunity to be strong for a long time. The truth is that the few players soon to be aging out already have their strong replacements in the organizational pipeline.
The rebuild is in full-flight. If the injury bug doesn’t strike next season, the ninth best team since December this season, could be the ninth best team all season in 2025-26.
Fans are excited. They should be.
