Montreal Canadiens Are Stanley Cup Playoff Bound

The Montreal Canadiens are heading back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2021. That year, the Canadiens lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Final. It has been a remarkable season for the Canadiens, and it was capped off with a 4-2 win on Wednesday night at the Bell Centre against the Carolina Hurricanes.

As Full Press Hockey has documented since the start of the season, the Canadiens goal was to play meaningful games in March and April. Under no circumstances could Montreal have its season over in December once again. Things did not look great in November, but there was a belief in the locker room that this group could turn it around.

Head coach Martin St. Louis was aided by a great trade by General Manager Kent Hughes, who acquired Alexandre Carrier from the Nashville Predators. The Canadiens got a physical defenseman who slotted other players properly.

Russ Cohen of Sportsology.com and Sirius XM NHL Network Radio told Full Press Hockey that Carrier was the exact player the Canadiens needed before the season began.

“Carrier was a steal. I don’t know what Nashville was thinking. I don’t know what they were thinking on a lot of their trades, but I knew that was a trade that was in favor of Montreal the minute they made it,” Cohen said. “And I remember saying before that season began, they needed to sort of get more veteran help on the blue line. And they did, and he was a big get. Like that was probably under the radar at the time, but no longer, obviously, and probably not for the last few months. That was a great get. So that’s a big thing.”

Around the same time Carrier entered the lineup, Patrik Laine, whom the Canadiens acquired in August, returned to the lineup after suffering an injury in preseason. Luckily, the Canadiens avoided disaster with the Laine injury. But once he entered the lineup, he was on fire, scoring goals in eight of his first nine games. Though he cooled off, Laine has been a big addition.

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However, it was not just the veterans who led the way for the Canadiens. Though Josh Anderson, Brendan Gallagher, and Christian Dvorak stepped up their games. It was the young core that Hughes and Jeff Gorton drafted and developed. Captain Nick Suzuki, defenseman Lane Hutson, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Sam Montembeault led the charge.

There were so many questions surrounding what the Canadiens would do at the NHL Trade Deadline. However, Montreal extended Jake Evans. They held onto Joel Armia, David Savard, and Dvorak as Suzuki told Hughes he believed in this team, and the Canadiens went on a roll coming out of the Four Nations.

There was a belief in that room. Nick Suzuki took strides not only as a leader but also as a player.

“Nick Suzuki has turned into an elite player. I remember when Vegas drafted him, I was very high on him, and I saw high-end talent, and now I think he’s even surpassed that,” Cohen said. “Like, here is the thing. There was a play he did against the Philadelphia Flyers, where he had the puck, and he kind of circled around the net and just quickly put it in. It made me look at Nick Suzuki’s skating. How much has that improved? And he’s now in the high 95th percentile of the NHL, and he gets up to 20 miles an hour. And so it’s like, you get that with the skill he’s got and everything else, and he could score, he could pass. It’s a big deal.” 

We mentioned Lane Hutson and the spark he brought to the Canadiens. He has been a difference maker, recording 60 assists as a rookie defenseman. That ties Larry Murphy for most assists by a rookie defenseman in NHL history. His play brought a spark to the team they needed. Cole Caufield is a dynamic goal scorer who will hit 40 goals in a season.

Nobody gave this team a chance at the start of the season. Many thought the Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres were better than the Canadiens. But the Sabres were out of the playoff mix in January, while the Red Wings fell out in March. Meanwhile, the Canadiens were able to take advantage of the New York Rangers struggles.

However, it was not easy for the Montreal Canadiens. They battled all season. It was a grind for this group. Even with multiple chances to clinch a playoff spot, the Canadiens still had to go through the adversity of earning it. It was not until Game 82 that the Canadiens punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup Playoffs and dashed the playoff hopes of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

It has been a remarkable season for the Montreal Canadiens, who will face the Washington Capitals in Round 1 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Making the playoffs was the icing on the cake of a truly successful season.