How surprised are you about this Canadiens season and their success?
Ed Helinski, Auburn, N.Y.
Very surprised.
I thought management’s goal of “being in the mix” for a playoff spot at the start of the season was a realistic one in Year 3 of the rebuild. But I didn’t think they were good enough yet to actually get in the playoffs.
I answered a question from Luc Leblanc in the Habs Mailbag before the season started about whether I thought the Canadiens could make the playoffs.
“If Patrik Laine can regain the goal-scoring form he had in Winnipeg, the Canadiens should be able to stay in playoff contention longer than in the previous three seasons,” I responded. “However, I don’t think Laine is enough to get them into the post-season — especially in the very tough Atlantic Division. Even if Laine does score 30-plus goals, the offence will drop off after the first two lines and there will be a young defence corps playing in front of the goaltending duo of Sam Montembeault and Cayden Primeau. The arrival of Ivan Demidov next season, along with whatever moves GM Kent Hughes might make before next season, should have the Canadiens in a better position to compete seriously for a playoff spot a year from now.”
When I answered Leblanc’s question we didn’t know yet that Laine would miss the first 24 games of the season with a knee injury. If I had known that I wouldn’t have thought the Canadiens could even be “in the mix.”
Now Demidov is set to join the Canadiens before the end of this season and they are on the verge of making the playoffs — putting them a year ahead of where I thought they would be.
I think the acquisition of defenceman Alexandre Carrier from the Nashville Predators in exchange for Justin Barron on Dec. 18 was a turning point in the season because it solidified the defence. Since the trade, the Canadiens had a 27-15-6 record before facing the Maple Leafs Saturday night in Toronto. Calling up Jakub Dobes from the AHL’s Laval Rocket to replace Primeau after Christmas gave head coach Martin St. Louis a backup goalie he could trust and Laine sparked the power play when he returned to the lineup, scoring 15 of his 20 goals with the man advantage.
Canadiens defenceman Alexandre Carrier, left, keeps a close eye on Panthers forward Brad Marchand during game this month at the Bell Centre. Acquiring Carrier via trade was a turning point in the season, Stu Cowan writes. Allen McInnis Montreal Gazette
Another turning point was when captain Nick Suzuki met with Kent Hughes during the 4 Nations Face-Off break in the schedule and pleaded with the GM not to break up the team at the NHL trade deadline on March 7 because there was a special bond in the locker room. Since the 4 Nations Face-Off break, the Canadiens have a 14-5-4 record after the Senators ended their six-game winning streak Friday night in Ottawa.
It really is remarkable what the Canadiens have been able to accomplish only three years into a rebuild — especially when you consider the Buffalo Sabres will miss the playoffs for the 14th straight season, the Detroit Red Wings are likely to miss the playoffs for a ninth straight season and the Senators have made the playoffs for the first time in eight years. Also, the Rocket have the best record in the AHL this season.
The future is looking very bright for the Canadiens.
Jeff Gorton, the executive vice-president of hockey operations who was hired by team owner/president Geoff Molson to oversee this rebuild, has done a fantastic job.
Hoping that these two — Ivan Demidov and Jacob Fowler — are in town only to observe the atmosphere, meet the players, take it all in. I sure wouldn’t be upsetting the current lineup even for one game (unless injury). Lots of time in the future for these guys to develop into NHL players. Comments?
Ric Turpin
The Canadiens are going to get Demidov into the lineup ASAP after his flight from Russia landed in Toronto on Thursday — and with good reason.
Demidov certainly looks ready to play in the NHL after the 19-year-old winger posted 19-30-49 totals in 65 games with SKA St. Petersburg this season, setting a KHL record for most points by a player under age 20. He was considered to be the top prospect not playing in the NHL and should be able to immediately give the Canadiens an offensive boost.
The other Canadiens players are excited about having Demidov join the lineup and his arrival won’t upset the locker room.
Fowler is expected to get his first start with the Rocket on Saturday against the Crunch in Syracuse and will also get to experience AHL playoff pressure this season. If the Canadiens clinch a playoff spot early it will be interesting to see if Fowler makes his NHL debut to burn off the first year of his NHL entry-level contract.
Fowler will be looking to earn a job with the Canadiens at training camp next season, but I think it’s more likely the 20-year-old will be the No. 1 goalie for the Rocket next season as he continues his development.
Who will Demidov play with?
DarkCanuck17 on X — @DarkCanuck17
I’d like to see Demidov get a chance to play on the No. 1 line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, giving him the best chance for immediate success.
But I think it’s more likely he ends up with Alex Newhook and Patrik Laine on the second line to start.
Ken Dryden, of course, comes to mind as a very late-season addition to the Habs. If Demidov plays and helps the Canadiens win that Giant Trophy (don’t want to jinx it by saying the name) after arriving even later in the season, will that be a league record?
nfb on X — @NILSBROWN
Dryden played only six regular-season games with the Canadiens at the end of the 1970-71 season, posting a 6-0 record with a 1.65 goals-against average and a .957 save percentage before going on to win the Stanley Cup. I believe that is the record for fewest regular-season games played before winning the Cup. The record for most regular-season games played before winning a Cup is 1,612, held by Ray Bourque before he finally won it with the Colorado Avalanche in 2001.
Dryden posted a 12-8 record during the 1971 postseason, along with a 3.01 GAA and a .914 save percentage to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. Demidov has a clause in the NHL entry-level contract he signed this week with the Canadiens that will pay him a US$525,000 bonus if he wins the Conn Smythe Trophy.
You can call it the Ken Dryden Clause.
It seems the Habs play an inordinate amount of back-to-back games. Does the league mandate a firm quota for each team or is it just luck of the draw due to various factors (ie. building availability, etc.).
Randy Bowen
There is no set number of back-to-back games NHL teams can play and a lot of it does have to do with things like building availability. The average last season was 12 back-to-back sets per team. The New Jersey Devils had the most back-to-backs last season with 16, while the Seattle Kraken had the fewest with seven.
The Canadiens had 12 sets of back-to-back games last season and had a 7-15-2 record in those 24 games. They went 1-11-0 in the second game of those back-to-backs, which is a big reason why they finished 28th in the overall NHL standings.
The Canadiens have 15 sets of back-to-back games this season with the final one this weekend with road games against the Senators on Friday and the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. The Canadiens had a 15-10-3 record in their first 14 sets of back-to-back games this season and were 7-5-2 in the second game of those back-to-backs. That’s a big reason why they’re on the verge of clinching a playoff spot.
If you have a question you’d like to ask for our weekly Habs Mailbag, you can email it to [email protected]
This story was originally published April 12, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
