The Montreal Canadiens made massive strides in 2024-25. After three straight last-place finishes in the Atlantic Division, the Canadiens would finish in fifth and secure the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Now, Canadiens GM Kent Hughes wants to see them take the next step and compete for a Cup. It was his bold prediction that the team could do that, and these are some more bold predictions for the 2025-26 Habs campaign.
The Canadiens made some of the biggest moves in the NHL offseason. They added players like Joe Veleno and Zach Bolduc. The best move may have been the trade for Noah Dobson. This is sure to improve an already solid roster filled with young studs such as Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Salfkovsky, and Lane Hutson. As these young players continue to grow, the team will only get better, and they are primed for another great run in 2025-26.
Montreal has a 40-goal scorer
The Canadiens have one of the longest droughts in the NHL heading into this season. They have the longest drought of not having a 40-goal scorer. Players have come close, such as Max Pacioretty getting to 39 goals back in 2013-14. The last time a player on the Habs lit the lamp 40 times in a season was Vincent Damphousse in 1993-94, when he scored exactly 40 goals. They also played 84 games that year, before switching to 82 games in the 1995-96 season.
The streak will be broken this upcoming season. Cole Caufield is going to find the back of the net at least 40 times this upcoming season. Last year, he chipped in 37 goals, while having his best individual points percentage, expected goal rate, and high danger chance conversion rates of his career, according to naturalstattrick.com. Further, it was his second-best shooting percentage of his career. Caufield has been on pace for over 40 goals before in his NHL career. In 2022-23, he scored 26 times in just 46 games. It is a pace that would have given him 46 goals in 82 games. He was injured in January of that season and missed the rest of the year.
Combining his improving goal scoring with the fact that Salfkovsky, his linemate, has improved his passing ability each year, Caufield will find himself in consistent scoring positions. If he can stay healthy, he will easily beat 40 goals.
The Canadiens have back-to-back Calder Trophy Winners
The Calder Memorial Trophy is given each year “to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League.” This, therefore, serves as the Rookie of the Year award. Players must be age 26 or younger, while not playing more than 25 regular-season games in any preceding season. The award was first given for the 1932-33 season, and, currently, 35 former winners have been elected to the Hall of Fame. Further, all but one winner since the 2005-06 season are still active.
While teams such as the Atlanta Flames and New York Islanders have seen their players be announced the winner twice in a three-year span, a team has not had back-to-back winners since 1966-67 and 1967-68. Bobby Orr and Derek Sanderson won back-to-back for the Boston Bruins. That long streak ends this year. Lane Hutson won the Calder Trophy in 2024-25. Ivan Demidov is going to win it in 2025-26.
The Russian forward played just two games at the NHL level in the regular season after joining the team from the KHL. He made an immediate impact, scoring a goal and adding an assist. The rookie also added two helpers in five games in the playoffs. He was a major scoring threat for SKA Saint Petersburg of the KHL in 2024-25. He lit the lamp 19 times while adding 30 assists in just 65 games. Odds at the time of writing, provided by FanDuel, have Ivan Demidov at +230 to win the award, making him the favorite. He has all the tools to make it happen, and the supporting cast around him to do just that.
Montreal is the top team in all of Canada
The Canadiens took a massive step forward in 2024-25 and are only better this year. They bring back their top goaltender in Sam Montembeault, who is coming off the best season of his career and looks to only be getting better. Meanwhile, they bring back eight of their top nine scoring options from last year. They also improved. Demidov will improve the scoring attack, as will the new addition of Bolduv. Meanwhile, Veleno will provide depth. The major improvement is that of Dobson on the blue line, which will not only improve the defense, but also the powerplay and penalty kill.
Meanwhile, Ottawa did not make many major improvements, and the Canadiens should surpass them this year. Toronto should also take a step back with the loss of Mitch Marner. Montreal will get four games each with those two opponents. The Winnipeg Jets were the top team in the NHL, but they have lost Nikolaj Ehlers, and asking Connor Hellebuyck to repeat his performance from last year is a tall task.
The Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks did not make many major improvements, and the Canadiens were already the better team among them. This leaves the Edmonton Oilers, who have questions in goal, and have lost players due to salary cap restrictions. They do have the best player in the world, but after two straight runs to the Stanley Cup Final, fatigue will set in at some point.
Montreal has all the parts necessary to be a top team in the Eastern Conference and will be the best team in Canada this year. The last time a Canadian team lifted the Cup was the Habs back in 1993. They may not do that this year, but they are on the right track to break the streak.
