The Canadiens are heading into 2026-27 with a pretty clear truth hanging over everything: they can’t assume the same lucky breaks that helped fuel a 106-point season and a run to the third round.
Lane Hutson is not a lock to keep chasing Larry Robinson records. Cole Caufield is not guaranteed another 50-goal explosion after shooting 19.8%.
And Chris Kreider, the club’s major offseason addition, is 35 now and coming off a 50-point season with the Anaheim Ducks, which means even reaching that number again would be a challenge. He may not even stay in the top six for the full season.
But Montreal doesn’t need every star to hit a ceiling to keep climbing. Hutson can keep piling up points at the pace he’s already established over two straight seasons.
Caufield has increased his production year after year, and the goal-scoring load can also be spread around by Juraj Slafkovsky and Ivan Demidov. Whatever Kreider gives them is extra, since he wasn’t on the roster last season anyway.
That leaves the Canadiens with a path to contention in the Atlantic Division - but also a few pressure points that could get in the way. The way they handle those spots will go a long way toward deciding whether this season becomes another step forward.
The first big one is health. Last year, Montreal finished with 256 man-games lost, which ranked 14th in the NHL per NHLInjuryViz.
That’s a far cry from the injury carnage they endured earlier in the rebuild, when they were setting records for games missed. The difference now is depth.
Even with Patrik Laine taking up a big chunk of that total, injuries to Alex Newhook, Kaiden Guhle and Kirby Dach were part of the equation too. That’s not ideal, but it does suggest the Canadiens can survive some bad luck better than they used to.
Guhle being out to start the season is a reminder not to get too comfortable, though.
The second key is in goal, where Montreal has more control than it did in other areas - and where it has not always made the cleanest decisions. The club has leaned on three-goalie setups in the recent past and gave Sam Montembeault too long a leash while he was stuck in a rough stretch. Last season, he finished 10-8-4 with a 3.43 goals-against average and a .872 save percentage.
Once Montembeault’s struggles became too much to ignore, the Canadiens turned to rookie Jakub Dobes and fellow rookie Jacob Fowler. Dobes responded with a 10-4 stretch and a .924 save percentage, then carried that form into the playoffs. At that point, he looked like the clear starter.
Still, Montreal shouldn’t throw away the formula that worked. Even after Dobes took over in early March, Fowler still started seven games, and the Canadiens went 5-2 in those outings.
That kind of 1A/1B split makes sense here, especially with Fowler still viewed as one of the league’s top goaltending prospects and possibly the higher-upside goalie of the two. The Canadiens should keep balancing their workload instead of riding one netminder into the ground.
Montembeault, meanwhile, could become waiver fodder if the club wants to keep him around as insurance.
Then there’s Oliver Kapanen, who may end up being the most important development case on the roster. Montreal made its run without a true No. 2 center, and Kapanen was asked to help drive the second line as a rookie.
When that stopped working and he was said to have hit a wall, the Canadiens even went with Jake Eans between Demidov and Alex Newhook in the playoffs. They still got to Round 3.
Kapanen’s season was uneven, and he even sat in the postseason, but he still scored 22 goals and got Calder Memorial Trophy votes. He’s also only 23, which matters.
There’s real room for him to grow into the kind of second-line center the Canadiens need. That makes the calls to go out and trade for an established center a little premature.
Montreal should see what Kapanen becomes before moving major assets to replace him.
And that’s the bigger point: the Canadiens already reached 106 points with Kapanen, sub-par goaltending overall, and no shortage of moving parts. If he takes a real step, if the goalie tandem holds, and if the team stays healthier than it did a year ago, there’s another level here.
In Other News...
Former Canadiens Are Suddenly Fighting For Their NHL Futures
A cluster of familiar names hit waivers on Sept. 25, turning what is usually a routine roster squeeze into a reminder of how quickly NHL careers can shift. Joshua Roy, Jordan Harris, Sean Farrell and Corey Schueneman were among the players exposed, and for Canadiens fans, the list carries extra weight because these are all skaters who had been part of Montreals pipeline or recent roster picture.
Roy, Harris and Farrell had already been moved on from by Montreal earlier this offseason or in recent years, which makes this latest round of roster churn feel less like a surprise than a checkpoint. Add in Marc Del Gaizo and William Trudeau, both of whom were with the Laval Rocket last season and were placed on waivers by the New York Rangers, and the wider picture gets clearer: former Canadiens and recent organization pieces are suddenly fighting to keep their NHL paths alive. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Linked To Kirby Dach As Bigger Roster Questions Loom
The Canadiens roster picture keeps widening beyond Montreal, and Kirby Dach has suddenly become part of that larger conversation. Around the league, teams are watching how contenders and cap-conscious clubs position themselves with the NHLs salary ceiling set to keep climbing, a trend that could reshape how front offices approach player deals in the years ahead.
For Montreal, Dach sits in the middle of a bigger valuation question than just one player or one contract. Interest from outside clubs is only adding to the intrigue around how the Canadiens see his role and how other teams see his upside, especially as trade chatter and contract strategy start to overlap with a cap environment that should look very different by the end of the decade. [Read more 🡒]
Florian Xhekaj Is Making The Canadiens Opening Night Decision Tough
Florian Xhekaj has turned a straightforward roster conversation into one of the more interesting camp questions around the Canadiens. Nick Suzuki and Phillip Danault have both offered strong backing for the young forward, pointing to the way he plays and, in Danaults case, the faceoff ability that can matter so much when coaches start sorting out the bottom of the lineup. Around the organization, the support has been building too, with Kent Hughes and Martin St-Louis also noting his consistency and presence.
For a player trying to force his way onto the opening-night roster, that kind of attention matters, especially this late in camp. Xhekaj has given the Canadiens enough to think about that the decision no longer looks routine, and the preseason finale now looms as the place where he can make one last impression before the final call is made. [Read more 🡒]