Canadiens are learning lessons early amidst current slump

After a hot start to the new season, there’s a little bit of concern regarding the team in Quebec.

Following a 4-3 shootout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night, the Montreal Canadiens have lost four games in a row and five of the team’s last six contests. For a team that had such a good start to the 2025-26 campaign, riding the wave of making it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season, it seems like the Canadiens’ play in recent weeks is a return to the organization’s status from years past.

Granted, the team is dealing with some notable injuries, with Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook and Patrik Laine out for the foreseeable future. However, a little bit of early-season adversity could be what Montreal needs to be better later on down the line.

On Tuesday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton discuss how the team’s recent struggles could be a good learning experience.

Tyler Yaremchuk: I think that’s kind of a common theme with a handful of teams around the NHL…it’s November and it’s not the dog days of the season. … I think what this stretch says for me about the Habs is…I didn’t think they were ever going to be a team who put up 110 points. I certainly didn’t pick them to win the division this year. They’re a young team that’s going to have to go through some growth spurts. I’m not sitting here saying they’re not a playoff team, but I just never thought they were truly elite, yet, in the NHL. They’ll get there, but I’m not concerned right now because I just felt like this is what their season was going to be. There’s going to be peaks and valleys.

Carter Hutton:  I think overachieving early has been huge. They’ve been probably arguably one of the most exciting teams to watch…my concern with the fact is the way that they play, it’s so run-and-gun. It’s not like they just ground and pound you. So, like when things get off, when you’re playing a high-power offense and you need to play that way, when things get off a little bit, you see it a lot…when you’re running that kind of offense and it’s off a little bit, it’s a lot harder to sustain than a team that just dumps the puck in and grinds you down consistently. Where, you know, with younger players, the emotion that goes into it, it gets a little trickier.

I do think there is upside to a lot of these younger guys getting this experience early in the year. I think the compressed schedule comes into play because when you’re trying to make adjustments on the fly, it’s a lot harder now because you don’t have that designated practice time to work on things.

You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…