Not long ago, Chris Kreider was the kind of player plenty of people in Montreal would have wanted nothing to do with. His collision with Carey Price in Game 1 of the 2014 Eastern Conference Final still sits in the memory of long-time Canadiens fans like a bruise. That history didn’t stop the Canadiens from signing him to a one-year deal this past September, but it did add a layer of scrutiny to everything he does in Montreal.
So far, the early returns have been mixed at best.
Through 11 games with the Canadiens, Kreider has one goal and three assists for four points, along with a minus-1 rating in 2026-27. The raw totals are modest, and the deeper numbers haven’t done much to soften the picture.
He has fired just nine shots on goal, fewer than defencemen Alexandre Carrier and Mike Matheson, who both have 12, and only one behind Kaiden Guhle, who has played just seven games because he was still coming back from injury. Guhle also has two goals to Kreider’s one.
The advanced metrics tell a similar story. Kreider’s Corsi for percentage sits at 49.6 percent, which is hardly disastrous, but it still means the opposition has had a slight edge when he’s on the ice.
Among Canadiens players with 11 games played, only Kirby Dach and his own linemate Alex Newhook have a lower CF%. Newhook’s 48.7 percent is particularly notable for fans who remember how effective he looked in limited action last season.
There is at least some line-level traction with the trio of Kreider, Newhook and Josh Anderson. That group ranks third among Montreal lines in expected goals for at 3.3.
The problem is that another Montreal unit, Alexandre Tessier-Phillip Danault-Zachary Bolduc, is well ahead at 4.8. Even worse, the Kreider line also carries far and away the team’s worst expected goals against mark at 4.3.
Part of the concern is simply age. Kreider is 35, and while there’s no question he can still play, expectations probably should have been set with more caution from the start.
Anaheim may have seen that coming. When the news of Kreider’s move to Montreal broke, the Ducks had already terminated his contract and placed him on waivers, where no other team claimed him.
That decision looked a lot harsher at the time than it does now, because Kreider’s 2025-26 season in California was still productive. He played 75 games, scored 22 goals, added 28 assists, and finished with 50 points. He also chipped in seven points in the playoffs, including two goals and five assists, as Anaheim reached the second round and earned a postseason berth for the first time since 2017-18.
Still, the Ducks let him go, and age in hockey can turn quickly. Not every veteran keeps beating the clock.
At the same time, this isn’t a player whose offensive peak was ancient history. Kreider was a major goal scorer for the Rangers not long ago.
He scored 52 times in 2021-22, then followed that with 36 goals in 2022-23 and 39 in 2023-24. He also had multiple seasons around the 25-goal mark in New York.
The track record says there’s still real scoring ability in there.
The question is what Montreal can realistically expect now. If Kreider played all 84 games at his current scoring pace, he’d finish with roughly eight goals and about 30 points.
That would put him well below last season’s total, which was already one of his least productive. The numbers can move, of course.
He could catch fire. He could settle in.
Anderson and Newhook might not be the right fit. But those are possibilities, not certainties.
If the goals don’t come, the Canadiens still need something from him.
Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki have already lived through a Stanley Cup Final in 2021, but they were young then and they’re still young now. A lot has changed in the five seasons since, and not much of it has been easy.
Kreider can bring a veteran voice to the dressing room and the bench when things tighten up. With Montreal having won two straight heading into action on Oct. 27, that leadership could matter, especially while Suzuki is out for several weeks.
He’s on a one-year contract, and it’s not a high-end payday, but he still occupies a roster spot. That means he has to earn it, the same as anyone else.
So far, that part is debatable. But experience counts, and Kreider has plenty of it.
Montreal needs him to use it well.
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