Crave has kicked off season 3 of The Rebuild: Inside the Montreal Canadiens, and the first two episodes waste no time getting into the biggest talking points from last season.
The streamer dropped the opening pair at midnight, and the new batch leans right into the 2025-26 season, Lane Hutson’s contract situation and the Canadiens’ goaltending mess from a year ago. The goalie material is the real center of gravity here, and the series makes sure that issue doesn’t get brushed aside.
There is one place where the documentary feels a little too eager to settle on a simple storyline. It presents both Canadiens goaltenders as if they were struggling from the jump, even though that wasn’t really the case.
Jakub Dobes, who appeared in six regular-season games in October, was perfect that month. His play dropped off in November, but by then Montreal had already kept returning to Samuel Montembeault despite his own problems.
It’s easy to see why Dobes’ confidence might have taken a hit. That’s the one part of the opening two episodes that feels like a stretch into revisionist history.
Kent Hughes’ line about Montembeault’s struggles lands because it gets at the reality of the job in Montreal. The show reminds viewers that being a goalie for the Canadiens is one of the toughest jobs in pro hockey, then brings in Jacques Plante’s old comparison about mistakes being lit up for everyone to see. Montembeault follows that up by saying it’s now 21,000 people at the Bell Centre.
The point is clear enough: last season is not something Montembeault can simply erase. If he had already steadied things, maybe the conversation would be different. Instead, the start of the new season and even training camp are still going to revolve around whether he can climb Everest during an avalanche, because he didn’t do it last year.
The series also gives a surprising behind-the-scenes look at Dobes’ emotional reaction after a November 4-3 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils. After that game, he told reporters:
It happened last year; it happens this year, losing to those guys in OT. Just disappointed in myself; that’s pretty much it.
Dobes later says that the next day teammates like Arber Xhekaj, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky were joking around by fake crying after he said things. He also says they told him Caufield had cried in the dressing room when he was sent down to Laval, and that Slafkovsky had done the same in an interview a couple of years earlier. It’s a good glimpse of the locker-room chemistry around the club.
Episode 2 also revisits Montreal’s first game against the Washington Capitals after Alex Ovechkin and company knocked the Canadiens out in the spring of 2025. The rematch didn’t go the Habs’ way, with Washington winning 8-4 on November 20. Montreal won’t have to wait nearly as long for a chance at payback this season, with the Carolina Hurricanes - the reigning Stanley Cup champions - visiting the Bell Centre on October 6 in the third game of the year.
The second episode closes by highlighting a bounce-back effort from Montembeault against the Vegas Golden Knights, but the preview for episode 3 makes it clear the story doesn’t stay rosy for long. Montembeault is shown being sent down to Laval, with Jacob Fowler called back up, and it should be interesting to see how much the series digs into that conditioning stint and whether Montembeault himself is part of that conversation.
In Other News...
Dylan Larkin Rumors Suddenly Carry A Bigger Rebuild Message
The Canadiens have spent this rebuild preaching patience, leaning on drafting and development instead of chasing shortcuts. That approach has kept the long view intact, but it also means every potential big-name target gets filtered through the same question: does this move fit the timeline, or does it pull the organization ahead of schedule? A proven center like Dylan Larkin is exactly the kind of player who can force that conversation.
For Montreal, the appeal is obvious because centers who can drive a team are the hardest pieces to find, and the temptation to accelerate the rebuild only grows when one comes into view. But a move like that would not come cheap, and any serious pursuit would test the clubs balance between protecting its assets and knowing when to spend them. The real issue is not just whether the Canadiens want to get better, but whether they are ready to shift from building toward competing. [Read more 🡒]
Golden Knights Trade Still Sparks Debate About What Vegas Gave Up
The trade that sent Max Pacioretty to Vegas keeps looking better for Montreal every time Nick Suzuki takes another step. What once felt like a straightforward swap of a proven scorer for a package of futures has turned into one of the defining moves of the Canadiens recent era, especially with Suzuki growing into the kind of center the franchise can build around.
Vegas got useful production from Pacioretty before moving on from him in 2022, but the long view is what keeps the debate alive. Suzuki has since become the Canadiens captain and first-line centre, won the Selke Trophy and played a major role in the teams recent success, giving Montreal a centerpiece it did not have when the deal was made. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens Goalie Situation Just Got More Complicated Than Fans Expected
Goaltending has become one of the quieter pressure points for the Canadiens as the roster takes shape, and Sam Montembeault remains right in the middle of it. Montreal explored the market for the veteran over the summer, but the club never found an offer it was willing to accept, leaving one of its more established options still in place as teams around the league continue to sort out their own crease situations.
There is still a path where Montembeaults name comes back into play if the right outside interest develops, especially with other clubs monitoring injury news and reassessing their depth. For Montreal, though, the issue is no longer just about whether there is a market. It is about whether a move can be made without forcing the Canadiens into a corner on value, timing and the rest of their goaltending picture. [Read more 🡒]