The Montreal Canadiens returned to the playoffs in 2024-25 for the first time since losing in the Stanley Cup Final in 2021. While the team lost to the Washington Capitals in five games, the Canadiens have high hopes internally this season. Nick Suzuki has continued to improve year after year and was the X-factor in the Canadiens' run to the playoffs in 2024-25. Now a new X-factor is primed to step up in 2025-25 and hopefully take the Habs further in the playoffs.
Suzuki was the 13th overall selection of the 2017 NHL Draft by the Vegas Golden Knights. He would never play for the franchise, being traded in September 2018 to the Canadiens. Slick Nick broke into the NHL in 2019-20, making an immediate impact. He amassed 41 points in 71 games, plus another seven in the playoffs.
Since then, the Canadian center has been a mainstay in the lineup. He has yet to miss a game in his NHL career, playing in all 455 games he was on the roster for. In that time, he has lit the lamp 138 times while adding 237 helpers. Furthermore, the center has had some playoff success. In 37 games, he has compiled 25 points in the playoffs.
Moreover, Suzuki has continued to improve each season. After scoring 41 points each of his first two campaigns, he has set career highs for points in each of the last four seasons. His last campaign punctuated his improvement. In 2024-25, Suzuki beat the goaltender 30 times while adding 58 assists for a career high in 89 points.
He was also amazing on the power play with four goals and 23 assists. Suzuki also had a +19 plus/minus rating, making him just one of four forwards with a positive rating who played more than 20 games. Two of the others were linemates Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky.
Ivan Demidov could provide an offensive spark
Last season, only four players on the Canadiens finished with more than 40 points on the year. One was blueliner Lane Hutson, and the other three were all forwards on the top line. The Canadiens had an issue with scoring depth last year. Part of the issue was the fact that Kirby Dach went down with a season-ending injury after just 57 games and 22 points, hindering the second line. Dach will be ready for the upcoming season. He also has a new linemate this year.
Ivan Demidov will be playing on the second line this year with Dach and Patrick Laine. He was the No. 5 overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft by the Montreal Canadiens. He played most of the 2024-25 season in the KHL and was great. The Russian scored 19 goals while adding 30 assists. When the SKA Saint Petersburg season ended, he moved to the NHL and joined Montreal. In his only two regular-season games, Demidov had a goal and an assist. Furthermore, the forward added two helpers in the playoffs.
The 19-year-old playmaker will make an impact on the scoring offense of the Canadiens this year. Still, he is young, and there will be growing pains. While he is on a solid line with Dach and Laine, he will have tough stretches. Furthermore, the defense of this former KHL stud has been questioned. While an impact will be made, Demidov is not the X-factor for the Habs this year.
The Canadiens' X-Factor is Noah Dobson
Last season, the Canadiens ranked 16th in the NHL in goals scored. Only three teams that made the playoffs scored fewer goals than Montreal, and each of the bottom-four teams in goals scored in the regular season was eliminated in the first round. Meanwhile, the team was 23rd in the NHL in goals against.
The other 15 teams that made the playoffs were in the top 16 in goals against with only the Calgary Flames, who ranked 15th in the NHL in goals against, missing the playoffs. This also gave the Habs a negative 20-goal differential, the worst of any playoff team and one of only two teams in the playoffs with a negative goal differential.
Noah Dobson will fix many of these issues. Dobson was the 12th overall selection of the New York Islanders in the 2018 NHL Draft. He was a productive part of that team, playing in 388 games with 50 goals and 180 assists. The peak for the blue liner was in 2023-24, when he found the back of the net ten times but added 60 assists. While he is coming off his worst season as a professional, there should be hope for a bounce-back.
The Canadiens traded multiple draft picks for Dobson with that expectation in mind. The advanced statistics do not suggest that the decline last year was because of declining ability. Meanwhile, he has consistently put up near 50 points each year, which will help the offense tremendously. Dobson has also been great on the power play in his career, which will help a unit that was 21st in the NHL last season.
Furthermore, Dobson is an elite defender and great on the penalty kill. He has consistently blocked more than 100 shots per year while averaging near 40 takeaways per season. Unlike his offensive production, these statistics did not take the same decline in 2024-25.
Still, the hopes of the team this year ride on Dobson rebounding. Montreal made the playoffs even with a poor power play, lack of offensive depth, and struggles on defense. Dobson will improve every aspect of those shortcomings this season as long as he returns to form, making him the X-factor for the Canadiens.
