The Montreal Canadiens dropped to 4-7-1 following Saturday's 3-1 setback to the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. They're currently in last place in the Atlantic Division, and things don't appear to be getting any better for them.

If things don't turn around, the Canadiens are in danger of seeing their postseason drought continue; they last qualified during their surprise run to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final in the abbreviated 2020-21 NHL season.

Their struggles have caught the attention of former NHL defenseman and current analyst Kevin Bieksa, who spent the majority of his career with the Vancouver Canucks before later suiting up for the Anaheim Ducks.

As Bieksa puts it, he's not seeing enough progress in Montreal and only regression, via X.

“For me, Montreal is very concerning right now,” said Bieksa. “When there's progress and you're a young team and you're losing, that's fine. But what's the opposite of progress? Regression.”

“It seems like there is a lot of regression right now, the only guy I can think about who is progressing is Cole Caufield,” he continued. “Everyone else has kind of flatlined,” said Bieksa. “You think about [Kaiden] Guhle, you think about some of their young players, even [Nick] Suzuki, he's kind of flatlined.”

Canadiens management will have a decision to make with regard to their coaching personnel and players if things don't turn around.

The Canadiens continue to regress in their rebuild

Montreal Canadiens head coach Martin St-Louis behind the bench during the first period of the game against the Buffalo Sabres at the Bell Centre.
Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
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Head coach Martin St. Louis tried to look at the positives following their setback against the Penguins, saying that their performance was a good sign moving forward, via The New York Times.

“Of course, you would have liked to get a result tonight because I felt the guys deserved something, we just didn’t get that,” St. Louis said. “But it’s a hard league. I feel like it’s a really good sign and a step in the right direction. Now it’s just to maintain that.

“If we do that, I think we’ll get going.”

However, the team hasn't shown any realistic signs of life that would indicate that they can realistically challenge for the playoffs.