The Montreal Canadiens may not look dramatically different on paper heading into next season, but their biggest internal boost could already be on the roster.
After a quiet offseason, Montreal’s major personnel changes were Brendan Gallagher getting traded to the Vancouver Canucks and depth centre Joe Veleno leaving for the New York Rangers. The rest of the additions were aimed more at the margins than the headline act, with Sasha Pastujov, Maksymilian Szuber, and Brett Berard brought in to help fill out the AHL side.
So if you’re hunting for the Canadiens’ real upgrade, the answer may not be found in a transaction at all. It may be Ivan Demidov taking another step.
That’s a pretty exciting thought for a player who already arrived with serious buzz. Demidov entered the league carrying the kind of hype that follows elite prospects, and he was widely seen as the best name in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft after Macklin Celebrini.
His KHL contract with SKA St. Petersburg pushed him down to fifth overall, but Montreal didn’t blink.
The Canadiens took him there, and less than a year later, he was in the NHL.
He barely needed time to announce himself. Demidov appeared in two games at the end of the 2024-25 regular season, then played in all five playoff games, and the impression was immediate.
By the time his rookie season began, he was the favorite to win the Calder Memorial Trophy. He didn’t take home the award, finishing second, but the season he put together would have won plenty of other years.
Demidov finished with 19 goals and 43 assists in 82 games, leading all rookies in points. The production was real, but so was the flash.
When the puck is on his stick, he changes the look of a shift. His stickhandling and vision let him manufacture offence in ways that make him hard to take your eyes off.
That said, the season wasn’t flawless. New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer tied the NHL record for most goals by a rookie defenceman in league history and collected every first-place vote, while Demidov picked up 120 second-place votes.
The part Montreal will be watching most closely is what happened down the stretch. Rookie fatigue is a real thing, and Demidov’s season showed it.
He played all 82 games, more than he had ever played in a season before, since his previous high was 65 games, not counting the Canadiens’ extended playoff run. Through his first 65 games, he piled up 52 points, a 0.80 points-per-game pace.
Over his final 17, he had 10 points, which dropped him to 0.59 per game.
There may have been other factors in that late dip. Juraj Slafkovsky moved back up to the first line after the Olympic break, and Demidov did much of his best work alongside the former first-overall pick. Still, the simplest explanation may be the most believable one: he ran out of gas.
Now he gets another offseason to reset for the grind, even with the schedule stretching to 84 games this year. Montreal has already committed to him in a big way, handing Demidov an eight-year, $73.20 million contract that makes him the second-highest-paid player on the roster. With the Canadiens’ current lineup, they need that investment to pay off.
Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Slafkovsky will carry the bulk of the offensive pressure, but if Demidov sharpens his consistency, he can become the player who drives the second line and tilts games. The ideal version of year two looks a lot like a point-per-game season.
More than that, though, Montreal needs to know he can still be dangerous late in the year. That’s the real test.
In Other News...
Canadiens Still Have One Roster Question Around Xhekaj And Bolduc
Geoff Molson sounded upbeat in a recent interview about where the Canadiens stand after last season, saying he was satisfied with the teams performance and encouraged by the way the roster is developing. He also made clear that Arber Xhekaj and Zach Bolduc remain important pieces in the organizations plans, a notable point with training camp approaching and Montreal still sorting through the edges of its depth chart.
The bigger question is how both players fit once the dust settles. Xhekajs usage has not fully settled into a defined role, and Bolduc remains unsigned after finishing the playoffs on the fourth line, leaving Montreal with one of those familiar late-summer roster puzzles that can shape how a team starts the year. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens Roster Puzzle Puts Some Young Pieces In Play
The Canadiens search for help on the right side of their defense has turned into a roster puzzle with real long-term stakes. With future salary-cap room to work with, the front office can afford to think beyond a quick fix, and that has kept attention on a possible move for Zach Whitecloud as Montreal looks to balance its blue line while also adding more size and physicality up front.
What makes the conversation more interesting is the kind of young talent that could be pulled into the discussion if the Canadiens decide to press ahead. Montreal has prospects it would prefer not to move lightly, but it also has to weigh the value of future flexibility against the appeal of helping the current roster now. For the moment, it is still speculation and planning more than action, but the kind of move the Canadiens are considering could reshape more than one part of the lineup. [Read more 🡒]
Lane Hutson Enters Year 3 With Canadiens Expectations Suddenly Much Higher
Lane Hutsons arrival in Montreal went from promising to overwhelming in a hurry. After setting franchise and league rookie records, then backing it up with a Calder Trophy and a stronger second season that included a solid playoff showing, the defenseman is no longer just a young blue-liner with upside. He is the kind of player the Canadiens are now building around, and the eight-year contract he signed only sharpened the expectations that come with his third NHL season.
The next step for Hutson is less about proving he belongs and more about how high his ceiling can climb in a bigger role. Montreal is looking for further growth at both ends of the ice, along with more time on the ice as his influence grows, and the details around his defense partners could matter as much as anything else. For a team still sorting out its roster around a rising star, that makes his year 3 one of the more important storylines on the board. [Read more 🡒]