The Montreal Canadiens’ 2023-24 season is nearing a close. Over the first 74 games, they’ve won enough (or lost enough, depending on your point of view) to have the sixth-worst record in the NHL. Yet, being in a rebuild, that’s good news as they will go to the NHL Entry Draft with a very high pick and hold a chance at winning the draft lottery.
Related: Canadiens Don’t Need to Finish Last to Find Scoring Help in Draft
However, collecting high draft picks isn’t enough for a rebuild to progress properly. There needs to be more, such as progression in certain aspects of the game at the NHL level. Montreal has seen all of the above, and that’s why this season isn’t wasted, it could be argued that there have been successes that general manager (GM) Kent Hughes can build upon.
Canadiens Have a True Top Center
Montreal has been playing well down the stretch, but their captain, Nick Suzuki, has been a steady producer and competitor all season long. After playing in every one of Montreal’s games this season, he has reached career highs in goals (32) and points (71). Down the stretch, he has been one of the NHL’s top players, as the third-leading goal scorer in the league since the All-Star Break, and he has done so while matching up against the top lines of every team he has faced.
At five-on-five, Suzuki has respectable possession statistics with a 50% Corsi for (CF%), and a 50.8% expected goals for (xGF). He is also leading all forwards in average time on ice (21:17) and leads Montreal in strength of opposition. With all of this responsibility and being the team’s top center, Suzuki has enjoyed his largest increase in offensive production. He has also hit a career-high of 2.7 in points per 60 minutes played.
There will be some naysayers who point to his points total and say 71 points in 74 games isn’t enough, but they ignore all other aspects of being a center.
After Montreal’s win over the Florida Panthers on April 2, head coach Martin St. Louis was glowing when speaking about his 24-year-old center, “He’s going to control the game and he’s going to do the job defensively. He’s going to win faceoffs. He’s going to do what the game is asking him to do at the time on the ice with whatever is happening. Usually, a number one center is a guy who reads the game really well, understands the game inside the game, the clock and the score and all that“.
Canadiens Add Depth to a Sniper’s Game
The stability provided by keeping Cole Caufield on a line with the team’s top center has been invaluable. While his goal production of 21 goals in 74 games hasn’t lived up to the preseason hopes of many in the media or the fanbase, the 23-year-old American has shown growth in his game. After 74 games, he has taken 267 shots on goal. His 7.6% shooting percentage this season is a major drop from his career average of 11.4%. It’s also a dramatic drop from the 16% shooting percentage he held last season. Yet after suffering a season-ending shoulder injury after playing only 46 games in 2022-23 and having surgery to repair that shoulder, it isn’t a surprise to see a drop in effectiveness with his shot as he not only readjusts physically but regains confidence in his repaired joint. With another full offseason, the confidence and strength will be back to where he needs them.
There are two significant aspects that point to significant progression. First, his overall game as he has hit a career-high in points (56) and assists (35). This ability to create plays will force defenders to respect his pass and not cheat to defend only his shot, opening more room for him to maneuver. Secondly, he has played in every one of the Canadiens’ 74 games this season. This is the most durable he has been in his NHL career, and he has done this while increasing his physical play in hits and board battles.
Canadiens’ Budding Star
Beyond all of the positive growth seen in the prospect pool by players such as Logan Mailloux, Owen Beck and Lane Hutson, the most dramatic individual growth has been demonstrated by Juraj Slafkovsky. His leap forward in progression has finally provided Montreal with a legitimate top line, one that can match up with better teams and still produce offensively.
Slafkovsky has been working tirelessly with Director of Player Development Adam Nicholas to refine every aspect of his game. Last season he looked somewhat lost, this season, he has set a franchise record for most points by a teenager and is now third on the team in goals (15) and points (42). He’s shown growth with his physicality, how he positions himself, how he goes to the net, keeps his head up to scan the ice, anticipates the hit, and reads a developing play. That physical size and how he employs it will make him an absolute beast to defend when he reaches physical maturity. Perhaps all of that has helped to fuel his confidence. This could explain his poise and patience with and without the puck.
Yet St. Louis has a different thought about Slafkovsky’s progression, he stated “My favourite thing from Slaf as a number one pick overall is it’s not about himself, and it’s rare, I think, that you see that at that age. He’s very selfless in the sense that he really cares about the guys around him, he cares about the team, he wants to win, he wants to play these games. I think he’s enjoying the process of growing as a player in this league and he’s trying to find success and how you have to play.” Learning how to use his offensive skills as well as his size to leverage space to apply them will make him a difficult player to contain in the playoffs, a time of the year that will determine his ultimate value to the franchise over the long term.
Canadiens’ System Growing
Despite their 29-33-12 record, they are not considered “an easy game” and have become a very difficult team to play against. This is seen by the number of close games they have been in, having lost 22 one-goal games, and losing eight others where they lost by two due to late-game empty net goals. That is 30 games that Montreal played another club to a coin toss finish, a game where either team could have gotten the two points.
While the Canadiens finally have a starting goaltender and a top line, they are in a rebuild, and it shows as they lack an important piece that playoff teams have, secondary scoring. Without depth, or a second scoring line, it is easier to defend against Montreal. But despite their slight improvements on special teams despite a lack of talented depth and their top line being targeted by top defensive units, the club remains in every game they play. How often do fans on social media state “If only they had Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook all season, they’d be a different team”? The additional experience these close games provide the team’s youth, as well as the addition of a healthy lineup and even another player or two will provide Canadiens fans with a much more entertaining and dangerous team in 2024-25, maybe one that could be within reach of the last playoff spot next season.
Success in this context is a matter of perspective. This season was seen as one where individual growth was prioritized. Even with clear growth among the team’s core, losing games is not what management wants to see from this club for much longer, however, this season achieved what management set out to do, and that makes it a successful season.