Montreal Canadiens

seanzo · Feb 1, 2026

They have far exceeded all my expectations to this point in the season. There's two big problems they will have to deal with when they get back from the Olympic break, how are they going to run their goalie tandem and what to do with Dach and Laine?

Personally I'd like to see Dobes take the starter position going forward, yes he's been shakey at times but he has only lost 5 of 26 in regulation and he's played some amazing games against the best teams in the league this past week.

As for Dach and Laine....them I'm not too sure about. Laine, I think it's fair to say, has lost his roster spot. It doesn't make sense to breakup the top two lines to fit him in and his play is even worse as a third or fourth liner, but how to trade him? Maybe a team like Vancouver or Calgary might be enticed into taking him on for a couple mid round draft picks or a fringe prospect who isn't going to make it on to the Habs roster. Dach however hass been looking pretty decent since coming back but we have prospects (Hage and Zharovsky are front of mind) coming up who will certainly take his spot not to mention Texier looks much more at home on the first line than Dach does. Might be a good time to trade him, even if it's for a late second or third round pick.

billsmafia · Feb 1, 2026

I would trade Laine for a bucket of pucks and some tape.

tml · Feb 1, 2026

billsmafia said:
I would trade Laine for a bucket of pucks and some tape.

Why do that when the Leafs will give you a first round pick for him.

Toronto Passions · Feb 2, 2026

tml said:
Why do that when the Leafs will give you a first round pick for him.

... and most likely the first round pick for the next five years in a row.

Philip

northofsixty · Mar 12, 2026

Important win by the Habs last night over the Sens.
A very close and very physical game. The Sens had a slight edge in the game overall.

Jacob Fowler called up and played great. Faced 34 shots (stopped 32 for .941 SV%) including a barrage of high danger shots at the end when the Sens pulled their goalie.
He is looking like the real deal.

With Cole Caulfield out of the line up - Habs get goals from Slafkovsky (24th), Demidov and Texier.
Demidov's 2 points puts him back in a tie for rookie's point race (51 points)

Montreal with 82 points for third place in Division (Tampa in second place also at 82 points - played one less game)
Still razor thin margins - but nice to get a bit of a lead over Detroit and Boston.

seanzo · Mar 12, 2026

Fowler was outstanding last night. While it's not going to be ideal to start having two rookies as your goalie tandem, I think going forward Dobes and Fowler should be the Habs 1A and 1B.

As for Demidov, as much as I would love to see him take the Calder this year, I don't think he will in the end. My money right now is on Schaefer, though if Demidov goes on a run till the end of the season the possibility of him taking the Calder is definitely there.

I hope to god Caufield is okay and all he needed was a night off and a belly full of uncrustables to get back to his goal scoring ways. The fact that he's just a handful of goals away being the top goal scorer in the league right now is very exciting.

The rest of the season should be fairly smooth sailing from here on out as far as the schedule is concerned. There are a few must wins coming up against Detroit and Boston but all in all they should be able to get points in the majority of their remaining games. Though I pray to God we don't get Buffalo or Tampa in the first round. Those two teams scare me 🫣

dirkd101 · Mar 12, 2026

While I'm no Habs fan, I am enjoying watching this young team and the way they play. St Louis is looking like a real coach, they way he has these guys playing. Suzuki is the real deal and with the cast around him, Caulfield et all, they look like they can make some noise. They make the Buds look like an ECHL team. No heart with the Buds, but this young Habs team shows plenty of heart and grit.

maurice93 · Mar 16, 2026

All of a sudden things are getting a bit uncomfortable for the Habs.

Yes they are #4 in the East But they are 3 only points ahead of Columbus at #9, and 5 points ahead of Streaking Ottawa who is at #10.
If Columbus and Ottawa slow-down, things will become much easier, as there is a big gap after Ottawa.

But they are a 1 point in 3 game stretch, of things being really tight.

They can't slump the next 5 games, as they are head to head battles with East teams battling for the playoffs themselves (except for Carolina)... getting 6 or 7 points in these games would be very nice, as many of those teams are immediately behind them.
Boston
at Detroit
Islanders
Hurricanes
CBJ

seanzo · Mar 16, 2026

I have a feeling it's going to come down to the last few games of the season just like last year, though no matter what the potential match ups are going to be brutal. I'd prefer to see Carolina over Buffalo but no matter what it's going to be rough going

superstar_88 · Mar 16, 2026

maurice93 said:
All of a sudden things are getting a bit uncomfortable for the Habs.

Yes they are #4 in the East But they are 3 only points ahead of Columbus at #9, and 5 points ahead of Streaking Ottawa who is at #10.
If Columbus and Ottawa slow-down, things will become much easier, as there is a big gap after Ottawa.

But they are a 1 point in 3 game stretch, of things being really tight.

They can't slump the next 5 games, as they are head to head battles with East teams battling for the playoffs themselves (except for Carolina)... getting 6 or 7 points in these games would be very nice, as many of those teams are immediately behind them.
Boston
at Detroit
Islanders
Hurricanes
CBJ

How are they number 4 in the East? They are 1 point up on Boston and Boston has played 1 more game.
They have the same point total as Detroit but Detroit has played 2 more games. At this moment Detroit is the team that looks the most dire to miss the playoffs. Columbus is on the upswing. Detroit is the only team of the top 9 in the East with a negative goal differential. Ottawa is +20 and they're 10th also on the upswing.

maurice93 · Mar 17, 2026

superstar_88 said:
How are they number 4 in the East? They are 1 point up on Boston and Boston has played 1 more game.
They have the same point total as Detroit but Detroit has played 2 more games. At this moment Detroit is the team that looks the most dire to miss the playoffs. Columbus is on the upswing. Detroit is the only team of the top 9 in the East with a negative goal differential. Ottawa is +20 and they're 10th also on the upswing.

They were 4th place in the East when I posted last night at around 7:00 before games were completed.

maurice93 · Mar 21, 2026

Huge win for the Habs tonight. They needed 2 points, after blowing a point against Detroit due to Mike Matheson blowing a tire and carelessly turning the point over with 3 minutes left in regulation.

Before today's games, 4th place in the East was 84 points and ninth place was 83 points.

seanzo · Mar 22, 2026

maurice93 said:
Huge win for the Habs tonight. They needed 2 points, after blowing a point against Detroit due to Mike Matheson blowing a tire and carelessly turning the point over with 3 minutes left in regulation.

Before today's games, 4th place in the East was 84 points and ninth place was 83 points.

They didn't just win but they won in spectacular fashion. Goal Caufield got a hat trick and two assists. Slaf got two goals and two assists. Captain Clutch got four assists. What makes it even better is the fact that Caufield is now a mere two goals behind MacKinnon for the Rocket Richard trophy race. It's not out of the realm of possibilities that he finishes the season with 50+ goals. Slaf is a mere three goals away from 30. I would like to see more out of the second and third lines as far as scoring is concerned and, as has been the case the entire season, they need to work really hard on their defensive play but otherwise there's a lot to be happy about right now. They just need to keep winning games down the stretch

P0Pewlar · Mar 22, 2026

billsmafia said:
I would trade Laine for a bucket of pucks and some tape.

lol I will steal that, thanks.

maurice93 · Mar 24, 2026

I guess people here who were calling the Suzuki contract brutal when signed, might have to take it back (some even said it was one of the worst contracts in the league). In year 4 of an 8 year deal at $7.8 million.

8th in the league in scoring
Top Selke candidate
Contract looking fairly good!

seanzo · Mar 24, 2026

maurice93 said:
I guess people here who were calling the Suzuki contract brutal when signed, might have to take it back (some even said it was one of the worst contracts in the league). In year 4 of an 8 year deal at $7.8 million.

8th in the league in scoring
Top Selke candidate
Contract looking fairly good!

I'm guessing those people were malding Leafs fans. Anybody who has paid attention to this guy since he came into the NHL knew he was destined for greatness. In his first few seasons he was called baby Bergeron by his teammates, I think that basically says it all. He is going to collect a lot of awards in his career and, fingers crossed, some cup rings too

jalimon · Mar 26, 2026

Cole Caufield is the league's second-best scorer. Did we have that in Montreal since Guy Lafleur??

This guy was a steal! Judge too short he is, like his coach before him, proving all wrong

The Habs will win the cup this year. Sorry Leafs... Hahahahaha

billsmafia · Mar 26, 2026

jalimon said:
Cole Caufield is the league's second-best scorer. Did we have that in Montreal since Guy Lafleur??

This guy was a steal! Judge too short he is, like his coach before him, proving all wrong

The Habs will win the cup this year. Sorry Leafs... Hahahahaha

Lafleur had 60 in '78. Would be nice to bring the Rocket Richard trophy home

superstar_88 · Mar 26, 2026

seanzo said:
I'm guessing those people were malding Leafs fans. Anybody who has paid attention to this guy since he came into the NHL knew he was destined for greatness. In his first few seasons he was called baby Bergeron by his teammates, I think that basically says it all. He is going to collect a lot of awards in his career and, fingers crossed, some cup rings too

I think it's more Montreal fans who don't understand term and inflation. Players, especially coming off their entry level contract are still developing. Hence they are overpaid in the early years and a great bargain in their later years when they are more or fully developed. I don't think Leafs fans follow what's going on in Montreal that closely or even follow at all for that matter.

Similar to how people in general compare salaries that are signed in different years for different terms.

seanzo · Mar 26, 2026

superstar_88 said:
I think it's more Montreal fans who don't understand term and inflation. Players, especially coming off their entry level contract are still developing. Hence they are overpaid in the early years and a great bargain in their later years when they are more or fully developed. I don't think Leafs fans follow what's going on in Montreal that closely or even follow at all for that matter.

Similar to how people in general compare salaries that are signed in different years for different terms.

I really don't even see how a Habs fan who actually watched the guy play in his first season could come to such a conclusion, his talent was glaringly apparent from the start and a sub $8 million dollar cap hit was a bargain which has only gotten better through the years. Same goes for Caufield and Slaf

jalimon said:
Cole Caufield is the league's second-best scorer. Did we have that in Montreal since Guy Lafleur??

This guy was a steal! Judge too short he is, like his coach before him, proving all wrong

The Habs will win the cup this year. Sorry Leafs... Hahahahaha

As much as I'd love to see the Habs win a cup this year I'm not sure it is in the cards. Regardless of where the Habs end up in the standings it will be tough going in the first round. Our options will probably end up being either Tampa, Buffalo or Carolina. If I had to pick I'd go for Carolina but all three are very scary teams, especially Tampa and Buffalo

billsmafia said:
Lafleur had 60 in '78. Would be nice to bring the Rocket Richard trophy home

I doubt Caufield will get to 60 this season. 50+ is definitely possible if not probable but whether or not he gets the Rocket Richard Trophy this year is going to depend more on what MacKinnon does in his last few games. Still all in all a fantastic season from our little bundle of joy

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