The 2025-26 Canadiens season: one for the books

MONTREAL – The Montreal Canadiens’ 2025-26 season will be remembered for years to come, and it’s not just because of the good vibes in the room or at the Bell Centre. On top of it all, when Habs fans pore over team records and milestones in the future, they’re bound to see many achievements from this year’s roster dot the lists.

To no one’s great surprise, the captain led the way in that regard. Skating in his seventh NHL season, all of them with Montreal, Nick Suzuki became just the fifth player ever in Canadiens history to reach the 100-point plateau, and the first one to do so in the past 40 years. The 26-year-old kicked off his campaign with a career-best 12-game point streak, setting the stage for the centerman to reach the 300-assist and 400-point plateaus in his career this season. His 537 consecutive games played rank him second in the NHL among active players.

Suzuki enjoyed 29 multi-point games in 2025-26, the most by a Montreal player in a season since Mats Naslund’s 31 in 1985-86, and he is also now the all-time franchise leader in career overtime points with 20.

The London, ON native, who led the Habs with a plus-37 differential, earned his first Frank J. Selke Trophy award for his efforts this season.

With that impressive point total covered, leave it to Suzuki’s linemate, Cole Caufield, to make waves in the League on the goal-scoring front. The 25-year-old winger lit the lamp 51 times this year, becoming just the seventh player in franchise history to hit the half-century mark in goals, and the first one in 36 years.

With only 14 penalty minutes this season – fewest among players with 30 goals or more – Caufield joined Suzuki as an NHL award-winner, in his case claiming his first Lady Byng Trophy in 2025-26. The American winger scored five overtime goals this season and with 13 overall on his resume, he is now the franchise’s all-time leader. Caufield’s 88 points in 2025-26 mark his ascension into point-per-game production, while his 29 go-ahead goals were the second-highest figure for a single season in League history behind Brett Hull.

Rounding out the top trio is the first-overall pick from 2022, Juraj Slafkovsky, who continued to impress – this time, by notching his first 30-goal campaign along with a career-best 43 assists for 73 points. The towering Slovak became the first Canadiens player to ever record three 50-point seasons before his 22nd birthday, and tied Henri Richard for most career points at age 21 or younger with 163.

On the backend, Lane Hutson was certainly no victim of any sophomore slump. The 22-year-old finished fourth among NHL defensemen in points with 78 (12G, 66A) and third in even-strength points (58). In October, Hutson tied for second-fewest games to 70 career assists by a defenseman and hit the 100-point milestone in December, becoming the second-fastest to do so among active blue-liners.

In March, Hutson became just the fourth active defenseman to record at least 60 assists in consecutive seasons, and his 66 helpers by season’s end tied Larry Robinson for most by a Canadiens defenseman in a campaign.

The 5-foot-9, 162-pounder was the team leader among defensemen in even strength ice time per game (TOI/GP) with 20:00, power play TOI/GP (3:18), and overtime TOI/GP (1:47). Hutson – the 2024-25 Calder Trophy winner – was second on the Canadiens in overall TOI/GP with 23:46.

Speaking of the Calder, this is the second straight season in which a Habs player led all rookies in points after Hutson did it in his rookie campaign. This time, it was Ivan Demidov, who finished first in assists and points this season with 43 and 62, respectively. His 20 power play points (7G, 13A) were also tops among League freshmen, while his four game-winning goals were tied for second-most among rookies.The 6-foot-1, 192-pound Demidov was named NHL Rookie of the Month for December after putting up 14 points (4G, 10A) in 15 games that month.

In January, Demidov became the first Canadiens rookie to record 10 career multi-point games through 50 contests in a season since Gilbert Dionne. Demidov went on to register 14 multi-point games in total in 2025-26.

Demidov was nominated for the rookie-of-the-year honor, but New York Islanders defender Matthew Schaefer ultimately took home the award.

Demidov wasn’t the only freshman to leave his mark in the NHL this season, either. Fellow forward Oliver Kapanen finished second in the rookie goal-scoring race with 22.

And then there is Czech goalie Jakub Dobes, who led all rookie netminders with 29 wins in 2025-26, posting a 29-10-4 record, 2.78 goals-against average, and .901 save percentage in 43 games.

The native of Ostrava, CZE, got off to a hot start early this season and became just the 10th rookie backstop in League history to win each of his first six contests in a campaign. His 6-0-0 record, 1.97 GAA and .930 SV% in October earned him NHL third star honors for that month.

The 6-foot-4, 215-pound netminder was also named NHL first star for the week ending on March 29 after he went 3-0-0 with a 1.33 GAA and .962 SV%. His 100 saves that week were the most in the League.

Dobes’ 29 wins in 2025-26 are good for fourth-most in franchise history by a rookie goaltender in a single season, with only Ken Dryden, Bill Durnan, and Jacques Plante earning more in their respective freshman campaigns.

Safe to say that 2025-26 was one for the books for the Canadiens.