The Canadiens Rebuild Is Getting Really Interesting
There’s a point in every rebuild when things start to get a little different. At first, nobody really cares about the standings. You’re collecting prospects, making trades, taking your lumps and telling everybody that the future is coming. Then the future shows up.
That’s pretty much where the Montreal Canadiens are now after last season’s unexpected playoff run. Three years ago, Montreal was still very much a rebuilding team. Then they became a team that was happy just to get into the playoffs. Last season, they went all the way to the conference final. That’s a pretty quick change in expectations. And now comes the interesting part.
The Canadiens can’t really sneak up on anybody anymore.
They have Lane Hutson driving the blue line, Nick Suzuki becoming one of the league's more complete centres, Cole Caufield putting up goals and Juraj Slafkovsky looking more and more like the power forward Montreal hoped it was drafting. Then you add Ivan Demidov, who has the kind of talent that makes people start dreaming about what he could become.
That's a pretty good group. But here's where I think the next step gets harder. It's one thing to have talented young players. It's another thing to have enough of the right pieces around them when the games start getting really important.
Montreal probably needs another veteran centre. That's not an indictment of the young players. It's actually the opposite. If Suzuki and the rest of that young core are going to become a serious Stanley Cup team, you don't want to make them carry everything themselves.
Related: Montreal Adds Another Young Defenceman to the Pipeline
The Canadiens’ defensive game must catch up with their offence.
That's probably the part of this Canadiens story that interests me most. Young teams can score. Young players can get excited and play fast. But playoff hockey has a way of exposing teams that don't defend well enough when things get tight. Montreal got a taste of that last season. Now they have to figure out how to turn that experience into something useful.
The goaltending situation is another fascinating piece. Jakub Dobes has pushed himself into the conversation, while Jacob Fowler remains part of the bigger picture. If Montreal gets legitimate NHL goaltending out of that group, suddenly another major question mark starts looking like a strength. And that's why I think the Canadiens are getting to the most important stage of their rebuild.
The fact is that the Canadiens aren't rebuilding anymore.
Instead, they're building expectations. That's a different job. Nobody is going to be particularly impressed if Montreal makes the playoffs next season. The question will be whether the Canadiens can win a round, then two, then three. Can the young stars handle being the team everybody is now preparing for?
That's when you find out what a rebuild was really worth. And looking at Montreal right now, I wouldn't bet against them. Far too many things are going right for this young team.