The Montreal Canadiens are heading into the 2026-27 season with plenty of optimism after a very successful 2025-26 campaign, but not everyone in the room is sitting pretty.
As the new season gets closer, a few players are walking into real pressure. Their performances will matter, and in some cases, so will their futures in Montreal.
Kirby Dach is one of the biggest names to watch. After signing a one-year deal with the Canadiens and avoiding arbitration, the 25-year-old forward is staring at a make-or-break type of season.
He needs to stay healthy and find his game again if he wants to keep his place in Montreal beyond this year. Dach was limited to 37 regular-season games last season, finishing with eight goals and 15 points.
In the playoffs, he added four goals and an assist in 19 games. Now, with a pending UFA status hanging over him, he enters a crucial contract year with plenty to prove.
Samuel Montembeault is in a similar spot. The Canadiens have not found him a new home this summer, and if that situation carries into the season, the stakes only get higher for the pending UFA goalie.
Montembeault’s task is straightforward: show that last season was a blip, not the new normal. He’ll be trying to remind Montreal - and the rest of the league - that he can still be an effective NHL goaltender.
If he does, there should be no shortage of interest in free agency next year.
In Other News...
Patrik Laines Next Move Is Raising A Tough Canadiens Question
Patrik Laines future is still hanging in the balance, and for Canadiens fans, that alone keeps the conversation alive. Even with interest said to be out there from teams such as the New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs, the former Montreal winger remains without an NHL contract as the market has yet to turn into anything concrete.
Now the next step is starting to look broader than North America. A move back to Europe is being discussed as a real possibility, which would echo Jeff Skinners recent one-year deal with EHC Biel-Bienne in Switzerland, and it adds a layer of uncertainty for anyone wondering whether Laines path still leads back to the NHL. No final decision has been made, but the longer this drags on, the tougher the question becomes for a Canadiens side that knows exactly what kind of player he can be when he is in the league. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens Fans Are Split On How Much Connor McDavid Is Worth
The idea of Connor McDavid in Montreal is the kind of summer conversation that can take over a fan base in a hurry, even when it starts as nothing more than a mock trade proposal. Top Tier Hockey floated a hypothetical deal, and it was enough to spark a fresh round of debate among Canadiens supporters about whether chasing the sports most electric talent would be worth the cost. With McDavid carrying two years left on his contract and a $12.5 million annual cap hit, the fantasy quickly turns from dream scenario to roster math.
What makes the discussion especially interesting is how divided the reaction has been, not just in Montreal but among Oilers fans too. For Canadiens followers, the question is less about whether McDavid would transform the franchise and more about how much of the present and future theyd be willing to part with for a shot at him. It is the kind of conversation that reveals just how high the ceiling would be, and how steep the price might have to be if the unthinkable ever became real. [Read more 🡒]
Suzuki And Caufield Are Giving Montreal A Real Shot At History
Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield have spent the better part of the last few seasons giving Montreal a legitimate top-line identity, and the numbers have started to match the eye test. Since both settled in as full-time Canadiens in 2021-22, they have been paired often and produced at a level the franchise has not seen in a long time, with Caufield breaking through for his first 50-goal season last year and Suzuki piling up 72 assists while nudging close to some long-standing team marks.
The bigger picture is what makes their partnership so intriguing for Canadiens fans: if both keep trending the way they have, Montreal could be looking at a run at history in 2026-27. The clubs single-season goals and assists records have been in place for years, but this duo has put itself in position to challenge them, which says plenty about how far the Canadiens core has come and how much more dangerous it could become if the pair keeps driving the offense together. [Read more 🡒]