NHL: Montreal Canadiens – 2025/2026 review
One playoff appearance between 2021 and 2024. Then 106 points and a conference final. Montreal put together the most meaningful season of its rebuild era, knocking out Tampa Bay and Buffalo in back-to-back seven-game series before running into Carolina, the eventual Stanley Cup champions. That is a serious leap for a roster most people still filed under “a few years away.”
Key numbers
2025-2026 record: 48-24-10 (283 goals for, 256 against)
2025-2026 NHL standing: 3rd in the Atlantic Division
2025-2026 top scorer: Cole Caufield (51)
2025-2026 top playmaker: Nick Suzuki (72)
2025-2026 points leader: Nick Suzuki (101)
Average age of roster (2026-2027): 26.7 years
Available cap space (2026-2027): $4.28M
Recent moves (off-season)
Arrivals: Brendan Gallagher (F, from Vancouver), Joseph Veleno (F, from the New York Rangers).
Departures: none of note.
Franchise outlook
Montreal Canadiens – future contracts and draft picks
Montreal spent the summer tightening things up rather than blowing it all up, which says plenty about how much faith the front office has in this core. Ivan Demidov, the rookie scoring leader with 62 points and a Calder Trophy finalist, signed an eight-year extension on the first day he was eligible, cementing his place as a long-term piece alongside Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. Jakub Dobes, who took over as the No. 1 goalie by playing all 19 of the team’s playoff games, also landed a new deal.
The core is locked in for the long haul. Noah Dobson, Lane Hutson, Suzuki, Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky are all under team control at least through 2030-31. The draft cupboard is still well stocked too, with a first- and second-round pick in every year through 2029.
A 100-point center who also won the Selke
Montreal turned in one of the league’s most unexpected runs, but nothing about the way this team played screamed luck. Nick Suzuki had the best season of his career, cracking the 100-point mark while also winning the Selke Trophy as the league’s top defensive forward. That combination says plenty about how complete a player he has become.
Cole Caufield hit 50 goals and finished second only to Nathan MacKinnon. Juraj Slafkovsky is still pushing toward the power-forward role people projected when he was drafted, while Lane Hutson has reshaped the blue line with offensive creativity you hardly ever see from a defenseman that young.
Demidov’s arrival during the season gave the attack a touch of European flair it had been missing. In the playoffs, that identity held up. Two series wins that went the full seven games is not the profile of a team riding a hot streak.
So the question is no longer whether Montreal has talent. Last spring settled that. The question is whether a core this young can hold that level across 82 games instead of flashing for one memorable run.
Player to watch: Cole Caufield (F)
Caufield became the first Canadiens player to score 50 goals since Stephane Richer in 1989-90. Fifty-one in total, good for second only to MacKinnon. Doing it again will not be easy. Since the last lockout, only Ovechkin has managed back-to-back 50-goal seasons.
That may not even be the right target. What matters more this year is growth as a complete player, not another round number. Fifty-one, 45 or 40 goals, the thing Montreal needs is its most dangerous finisher still getting better.
2026-2027 goal
Projected Montreal Canadiens lines 2026-2027
Montreal took a big step last season, and that changes the standard. Making the playoffs is no longer enough. Plenty of observers, including several analysts at The Hockey Writers, are blunt about it: anything short of another conference final will feel like a letdown.
In plain terms, that means continued growth from the young core, better scoring depth behind the top line, and confirmation that Dobes can handle the crease over a full season rather than in patches.
Kent Hughes has admitted he would like to add another piece if the right chance comes along, acknowledging there is work left to close the gap on Florida and Toronto in an Atlantic that looks even nastier this time. Match last spring and Montreal belongs in the Stanley Cup conversation. Stumble early and people will start asking whether that run was a one-off.
My prediction
Top spot for the Canadiens. A surprise, yes, but the kind I can get behind. They have the talent, a young and complete roster, and plenty of bite. No season goes exactly to plan, so I would not be shocked to see them finish first in the Atlantic.
Photo credit: wallpapersafari.com | amyd24
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