The Habs 2025-26 Season MVP

On Sunday night, I discussed why Jakub Dobes was the Habs’ playoff MVP, after he led the Habs all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals. However, when we consider the whole season, Dobes would be my 4th choice for the Habs’ MVP. Yes, he had a great official rookie season that included multiple 6+ game winning streaks as well as being able to bounce back from a loss as well as any goaltender in the NHL, but the other guys on my list accomplished more impressive stuff during the regular season.

Not to mention, Dobes also had a few downs along with all the ups that he had throughout the year. The most notable was when his first loss of the season against the New Jersey Devils affected him to the point where he had his biggest personal slump of the year back in November. That slump also prevented Dobes from being able to steal the starting job from Samuel Montembeault for good after the Olympics. Although, it probably still wouldn’t affect him from finishing higher than 4th given the impact that the other players had. Dobes’ 29 wins ranked him 4th all-time in Habs history for rookie wins.

Coming in as the 3rd best Habs player is actually the guy who probably recorded the most impressive feat by any Habs player in 35 years, Cole Caufield. Despite being the first 50-goal scorer since Stephane Richer in the 1989-90 season, Caufield’s struggles in the playoffs certainly hurt his chances of being named the team’s MVP.  While, his numbers in the playoffs weren’t that bad with 6 goals and 13 points in 19 playoff games, there were a lot of times where he struggled to produce and he would make costly plays defensively at times.

Nonetheless, he did come up very clutch in the regular season with his 51 goals and was a huge part of why the Habs finished the regular season with 106 points. What separates him from Dobes is that he reached a goal mark that the Habs haven’t seen in 35 years, and he led the league in game-winning goals with 12.  The fact that he is the 3rd in my Habs MVP ranking shows just how good a season the team had.

Coming in at #2 is Captain Suzuki, who recorded the team’s first 100-point season in 40 years when he scored 29 goals and 72 assists. He also did this while being one of the best shutdown centres in the NHL, which has made him the favourite to win the Selke Trophy as best defensive forward in the NHL this year. Still, like Caufield, his ability to perform in the playoffs hurt him from being the team’s overall best player this season, as he finished as a -8, despite leading the Habs in playoff points with 16 points (4 goals and 12 assists). Suzuki and his linemates particularly had trouble against the Tampa Bay Lightning’s top line, who massively outscored them at even strength throughout the series. This is what sets him below my top option for the team MVP. Still, that 100+ point season is something that just 5 players in Canadiens history can say they’ve done, and it is very special. If it were just the regular season alone, Suzuki would once again be my MVP, but the postseason inches the other guy ahead of him.

The Habs’ true MVP this season, in my opinion, is defenseman Lane Hutson, purely because, aside from the Eastern Conference Finals, he was consistently a leader for the team all year on offence from the back end. While both he and Suzuki finished tied for the team lead in playoff points, Hutson’s role in creating that offence by setting up many key scoring plays that helped the Habs advance was bigger. On top of that, Hutson’s 66 assists tied Larry Robinson for most by a Habs defenseman in a single season. Hutson also showed a great improvement in his shot as he doubled his goals from his rookie year with 12 goals in the 2025-26 campaign as well as 3 come playoff time. However, the biggest improvement was his defensive game as Hutson constantly outmuscled bigger guys by using his centre of gravity to knock players off the puck. The Habs defenseman ended up finishing 6th in Norris Trophy voting, but his overall game showed that he truly is a franchise piece. At just 22 years old, he will only get better and should hold numerous team records when his time here in Montreal is over. His consistency from the regular season to the playoffs while showing constant improvement is why he is my 2026 Montreal Canadiens MVP.

In conclusion, there is an argument that any one of these four players mentioned in this article could be considered the Habs’ team MVP. Overall it was an amazing season where many players stepped up and showed why the Canadiens are no joke and there are many players who can take on the role of being the MVP of this team.

Who is your MVP for the 2025-26 Montreal Canadiens season?