MONTREAL – You never quite know what Martin St-Louis will say behind a microphone, but you can bet it’ll make a headline.
At the Canadiens Golf Tournament back in September, he delivered again. It wasn’t the flashiest, funniest, or most inspiring line of his career. But one that was raw, real and maybe even prophetic.
“Your team talks to you every day; not necessarily through words, but through actions.”
And last season, the Canadiens’ actions spoke volumes. They battled, they grew, and they proved they’re ready for more than being just “in the mix.” They showed they’re a playoff team.
Five months later, the message hasn’t changed — only the stakes have.
Naturally, expectations are higher now. From the fans, yes, but even more so from the players. Last year’s postseason run was enough to prove they belong, but it wasn’t nearly enough to satisfy them.
“We’re going to want it more,” Cole Caufield told the media. “Again, we’ve got a hungry group. A lot of guys are still young and trying to show what they can do. Nobody’s really satisfied with their game. I think there’s a lot left in the tank for us.”
Right now, that tank is full and the road to the postseason starts now for the Canadiens.
How the Habs get there remains to be seen, but for their sake, St-Louis, Caufield, and company are hoping for a smoother journey than last season’s dramatic Game 82 clincher.
If last year was the scenic route, this year, Montreal has its eyes on the express lane.
Let’s start with the offense
Behind the wheel, is, you guessed it, Nick Suzuki. The Canadiens’ captain is the engine of this team, and his value can’t be overstated. It’s not just that he’s in the lineup every night — a rare and underrated asset in itself — it’s the sheer scale of his impact. Suzuki’s 89 points in 2024-25 meant he factored in on 36.6% of Montreal’s goals, the highest share of team offense by a Hab since Guy Lafleur in the late 1970s.
After carrying the club down the stretch and into the postseason, Montreal will once again look to its captain to steer the way in what’s already his seventh NHL season.
“I feel like he’s coming into his own more and more,” said Canadiens executive vice president of hockey operations, Jeff Gorton. “We’re seeing him get better and better as a player, and inside the room, we’re seeing him get better as a leader. We knew he was young when we named him captain, but we also knew he could handle it and he’s definitely shown he can do that.”
Flanking him on the top line are Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky. Together, they helped form the NHL’s most productive trio last season, powered by Caufield’s career-best 37 goals and 70 points. Fair to say, Montreal’s playoffs hope hinge largely on their continued output.
That said, secondary scoring is poised to rise. A healthy Patrik Laine––whom, for the first time in a long time, benefited from a complete summer of training––combined with a motivated Kirby Dach and the injection of the 19-year-old wonderkid, Ivan Demidov, give the Canadiens a dangerous one-two punch.
But it doesn’t end there.
At the Canadiens Golf Tournament, general manager Kent Hughes emphasized that while the team isn’t a finished product, it has a roster that’s turned from simply being built, to one that’s now being strategically constructed.
One of his additions this summer was Zachary Bolduc––a hometown kid with an elite shot, relentless forechecking ability and a skillset that is interchangeable in the team’s top or bottom-six units. A first-round pick in 2021, Bolduc’s 19 tallies in his sophomore season in St. Louis offers Montreal untapped potential, as they look to make their case for one of the League’s top offenses this year.
Veteran presence remains crucial, too. With the departures of Christian Dvorak and Joel Armia this summer, Josh Anderson, Jake Evans and Brendan Gallagher’s roles as leaders will carry more weight up front.
All three proved their value in 2024-25. Gallagher played in all 82 games and posted his first 20-goal campaign since 2019-20; Evans skated to a career-high 36 points, while anchoring the team’s penalty kill; and Anderson rebounded from an underwhelming 2023-24 season by winning the Jacques Beauchamp-Molson Trophy as a Canadiens player who played a dominant role during the regular season without earning any particular honor.
Complementary pieces, like Alex Newhook, a swiss army knife of sorts for the Habs, and new arrival Joe Veleno and Oliver Kapanen have rounded out the team’s offense, while young guns like Owen Beck and Florian Xhekaj look to make their mark––whenever opportunity knocks.
To the blue line we go
And really, where else could we start but with Noah Dobson? Montreal’s marquee offseason acquisition––and one of their most significant in recent memory––completely reshapes the Canadiens’ defense. The loss of David Savard to retirement leaves a hole in experience, but Dobson fills it with youth, mileage, and a well-rounded game that checks every box.
At 25, the right-shot defenseman brings everything a coach craves in a top-pairing rearguard: he logs heavy minutes, neutralizes top talent, moves the puck with ease, and can chip in offensively, as proven by a career-best 70-point season in 2023-24.
Alongside Dobson, Kaiden Guhle, Mike Matheson and reigning Calder Trophy winner Lane Hutson round out Montreal’s top four––a group that easily ranks among the League’s elite.
As Guhle put it during training camp: “We’ve got everything we need.”
That includes toughness, elements that both Jayden Struble and Arber Xhekaj provide, while Alexandre Carrier balances it out with his steady veteran experience.
Moving on to the blue paint
Samuel Montembeault is set to carry the load after a breakout campaign where he set career highs in games played, wins, goals-against average, and shutouts––the payoff of steady, underrated progress over the past few years.
The numbers back it up: according to Data Driven Hockey, Montembeault ranks fifth in the NHL in goals saved above expected (61.5) across the last three seasons.
Behind him is Jakub Dobes, who turned heads as a rookie with one of the best starts to a career you’ll ever see from a young goaltender. The 24-year-old closed out his first NHL season with a 15-7-4 record, a .909 save percentage, and a 2.74 GAA. With a grueling schedule full of back-to-backs, Montreal will lean on him to take another step forward in his sophomore year.
With a new season underway, the Canadiens are no longer just trying to turn the corner––they’ve already done that. The foundation has been laid, the pieces are in place, and the buy-in is clear.
But as Martin St-Louis often asks: what’s next?
That answer won’t come in soundbites or slogans––no, not this year. It will be written game by game in how this team responds to adversity, handles expectations, and embraces opportunities.
And with a fresh slate of Habs hockey ahead, we’re about to see whether this team can take the next step––not through words, but through actions.
