To say the Montreal Canadiens have had a whirlwind start to the 2020s would be a wild understatement. From becoming the first team in NHL history to finish in last place after making a Stanley Cup Final appearance the season prior to multiple consecutive bottom-five finishes, this decade is shaping up to be a roller coaster of a time period for the NHL’s winningest club.
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What makes someone a great player within one franchise is ultimately a balanced combination of individual success, team success, leadership, longevity, influence, and legacy. This list has slightly less emphasis on the longevity and legacy aspects simply due to the much shorter time period on top of projecting what the remainder of the 2020s will look like for the team. In addition to this, projections for high-end prospects currently under contract with the team must be considered.
Unlike the previous decade, the Canadiens saw an influx of young talent emerge from their prospect pool and trade acquisitions as opposed to a team composed of mostly established veterans. Instead of the likes of Mike Cammalleri, Jaroslav Halak, or Brian Gionta, the team has relied on exciting young players such as Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Samuel Montembeault. Keeping the future in mind, the following is a projection of the five best Canadiens of the 2020s in its entirety.
Honourable Mentions: Mike Matheson (2022-), Kaiden Guhle (2022-), Kirby Dach (2022-)
5. Samuel Montembeault, Goaltender #35 (2021-)
107 Games Played (GP), 37-47-14, 3.45 Goals-Against-Average (GAA), .899 Save Percentage (SV%)
The successor to Carey Price has earned himself a nice pay raise since being claimed off waivers from the Florida Panthers in 2021. Perhaps fans have grown too accustomed to the statistical dominance of a goaltender such as Price, though Montembeault’s stats won’t blow anyone away. Forced to play behind an extremely young and inexperienced (not to mention an often-injured) defensive corps despite little to no starting experience in the NHL, the Quebec native has asserted himself as the clear-cut starting goaltender ahead of Jake Allen and Cayden Primeau. He demonstrated his starting capabilities by capturing a gold medal with the 2023 Canadian World Championship team.
The 27-year-old has improved his numbers this season, sporting a 3.15 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage to go along with a sweet 13-10-5 record. For comparison, the other two rostered goalies (Allen and Primeau) are a combined 10-18-5. Montembeault has proven that he gives the team a greater chance to win when he is in the crease. Montembeault’s role as the starting goaltender is more ambiguous as the decade goes on, with prospects such as Jacob Fowler and Jakub Dobes climbing the ranks within the team’s system. Despite this, both of those prospects are likely several years away from being impact goaltenders at the NHL level.
4. Lane Hutson, Defenseman (2022 Second-Round Pick)
69 GP, 27 Goals (G), 60 Assists (A), 87 Points (PTS) *
* in two seasons at Boston University (NCAA)
Lane Hutson is perhaps the most highly-touted prospect in their system. The diminutive defender has followed a similar career trajectory as Caufield, falling to the Habs in his draft year due to his small stature and then proceeding to utterly dominate college hockey. Hutson scored 48 points in 39 games as a freshman in 2022-23, a scoring pace not seen since the likes of Brian Leetch nearly 40 years ago. With 39 points in just 30 games in 2023-24, he is on pace to exceed that mark. The agile defenseman has his sights set on the 2024 Hobey Baker Award, which Caufield won back in 2021.
Related: Projecting the 2024-25 Canadiens Opening Night Roster
Given that many high-end college prospects receive an NHL stint at the end of this season, there is a chance that Hutson suits up in a Habs uniform in 2023-24. He will surely be on the blue line for Opening Night of the 2024-25 season and is expected to step into a significant role as an offensive contributor to complement their heap of young and improving forwards. Expect him to man the first power play unit in due time.
3. Juraj Slafkovsky, Left Wing #20 (2022-)
100 GP, 17 G, 24 A, 41 PTS
The 2022 first-overall pick has had his fair share of growing pains to begin his young NHL career. After posting just eight points across the first 36 games of 2023-24, he has posted 23 points in just 25 games since. His chemistry with Suzuki and Caufield has helped the Slovakian blossom into a bonafide top-line forward. Now ranking fourth in team scoring with 31 points, Slafkovsky will look to continue his progression as a top offensive contributor for the team.
Should he continue to improve and progress as he becomes a seasoned NHL player (fans may forget he is still just 19 years of age), he will certainly become one of the Canadiens’ best players of the 2020s and his statistical numbers will surely reflect that. At times this season, he has looked like the best Canadien on the ice. He has proven his ability to not only play well but dominate amongst competition much older than him with his seven goals in as many games at the 2022 Olympics. The only factor keeping him from being higher on this list is the contributions the top two players have already made this decade before Slafkovsky even arriving in Montreal.
2. Cole Caufield, Left/Right Wing #22 (2020-)
184 GP, 72 G, 60 A, 132 PTS
Canadiens fans were ecstatic when Caufield fell to them at 15th overall in the 2019 NHL Draft. Despite putting up record-setting goal-scoring numbers alongside Jack Hughes and company with the United States National Team Development Program (USNTDP), the Wisconsin native dropped in the draft due to his small stature. The diminutive forward went on to win the Hobey Baker Award as the NCAA’s top player the following season at the University of Wisconsin and has since become the primary shooting threat on a Canadiens team that features multiple.
Related: 4 Cool Things About Cole Caufield
Caufield scored 26 goals in just 46 games in 2022-23 (a 46-goal pace) before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery. This season, he ranks second in team scoring and already boasts a career-high 48 points. He ranks second among team skaters in goals and points since 2020, despite not playing a full season until 2021-22. Look for Caufield to become a consistent 40-goal threat in the near future as the team begins to transition out of a rebuild.
1. Nick Suzuki, Center #14 (2020-)
281 GP, 86 G, 141 A, 227 PTS
While the 2020s have yet to feature a player as dominant among all-time Habs players as Price, current captain Nick Suzuki possesses all the makings of a true number-one centre — a need the team has been craving for numerous years. The Ontario League Hockey (OHL) product ranks first among skaters in games played, goals, assists, and points since 2020. He leads the second-place Caufield by a whopping 95 points. Suzuki also notably sports an impressive ironman streak dating back to the beginning of his career. He has improved his production in every season since entering the league in 2020-21, putting up a career-high 66 points in 2022-23 (his 2023-24 numbers are on pace to break that mark). The three-time All-Star averages over 21 minutes of ice time per game this season, and boasts a 53.7% faceoff percentage on top of his already-impressive offensive numbers. Expect the Canadiens’ captain to be the leader of this team as they progress through the decade, and perhaps even beyond.
The retooling/rebuilding the Canadiens have undergone since their Cinderella-style Stanley Cup Final run in 2021 has been a slow process, with multiple bottom-five finishes in addition to seeing a complete overhaul to the management and coaching staff in the interim. Despite the tumultuous few seasons, the team boasts a roster of young talent who have yet to unlock their full potential and are looking to take steps forward in the coming seasons. Expect the likes of Suzuki, Caufield, Slafkovsky, and Montembeault (among many more) to lead the charge.