Canadiens: Three Things To Look Forward To In 2023

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The Montreal Canadiens put the finishing touches on one of their worst calendar years of all time with back to back blowout losses on the road.

If we learned anything in the games played between Christmas and New Year’s Day it is that this team does not have a Cinderella second half run in them like many teams who have been written off in the past. No, this team is in over its head and can not compete with the top teams in the Eastern Conference.

The Canadiens played 85 games in the year 2022 and went 30-45-10. That .412 points percentage was better than four other teams, but shows how far the Habs are from competing at the moment.

So, 2022 was not one to remember for the Canadiens. It did have a few highs though. Juraj Slafkovsky was drafted first overall. Martin St. Louis was hired as the team’s head coach and Cole Caufield broke out offensively. A bundle of young defenders looked better than anyone could have expected at the beginning of the season.

Even in one of their worst calendar years ever, there were some positives. There always are. The upcoming year does not promise to be one of the best for the Canadiens, but it should be an improvement on the past year.

The team may only be marginally better on the ice, but there are definite reasons for optimism. While the playoffs are not happening in 2023 for the Montreal Canadiens, there are still many things to look forward to in this calendar year.

What do Habs fans have to be excited about in this calendar year? Let’s take a look at the top three things Montreal Canadiens fans should be looking forward to as we flip the calendar to a year that is certain to not feature any playoff hockey in the province of Quebec.

Nov 29, 2022; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens defenseman Joel Edmundson. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports /

2023 Trade Deadline

Every rebuilding team and team that is not in the playoff race will become sellers at the trade deadline. The 2022-23 Montreal Canadiens will no different. Unfortunately for them, a few of their pending free agents are not performing well at all.

Jonathan Drouin has zero goals and six points in 21 games played. Evgeni Dadonov has just two goals and eight points in 29 games played. Paul Byron is yet to play a game this season. At least Sean Monahan has 17 points in 25 games to build some trade value.

However, that doesn’t mean there will be no movement around Montreal as the trade deadline approaches. We saw the team trade away Tyler Toffoli and Artturi Lehkonen last season even though they were not pending unrestricted free agents. If the return is what Kent Hughes deems fair, he will pull the trigger to benefit the future of the franchise.

That means Sean Monahan, who is a pending UFA and was playing well, is likely to be dealt. But a lot of eyes will be on Joel Edmundson as well.

Edmundson has an additional year on his contract, but only at a cap hit of $3.5 million. That’s easy to digest for a team looking to add a second pairing shutdown defender who can play a lot of minutes on the penalty kill.

The Canadiens were able to land a 2023 1st round pick, as well as prospect Ty Smilanic from the Florida Panthers for Ben Chiarot last season. If a similar offer comes across for Edmundson, you can bet he will be on the way out of town as well.

Aug 20, 2022; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Team Canada forward Joshua Roy Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports /

Prospect Dominance

The Canadiens have prospects scattered around pretty much every team that has a legit chance of winning the World Juniors this week.

Joshua Roy has played extremely well on a stacked Canadian team and has earned a promotion to a line with Connor Bedard. Lane Hutson is playing a top four role for USA, Adam Engstrom is on the top pairing for Sweden, Oliver Kapanen is the first line centre for Finland, and Filip Mesar is a key contributor for Slovakia.

All five of those players will play in the Quarterfinals tomorrow and look to advance to the final four. Each and every one of them are playing key roles on their respective teams. But it isn’t just the World Junior prospects to keep an eye on in 2023.

Riley Kidney is scoring nearly 1.5 points per game in the QMJHL and is likely to be dealt to a Memorial Cup contender in the coming days. Owen Beck has 40 points in 30 games as an 18 year old centre in the OHL.

Logan Mailloux continues to score at a point per game pace as a defenceman for the London Knights. Cedrick Guindon of the Owen Sound Attack and Vinzenz Rohrer of the Ottawa 67’s as well as Mesar are 18 year old forwards averaging about 1.25 points per game in the OHL.

Sean Farrell continues to be one of the highest point producing players in college hockey for Harvard. Jesse Ylonen, Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Xavier Simoneau continue playing well for the Laval Rocket and are just waiting for a roster spot to open up at the NHL level before they can make the jump.

Dec 21, 2022; Denver, Colorado, USA; Montreal Canadiens Cole Caufield. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /

Cole Caufield Goal Watch

The Canadiens have not had a goal scorer like Cole Caufield in a long, long time. The Habs last game of 2022 was a 9-2 annihilation at the hands of the Washington Capitals. The only bright side of the drubbing was that Habs both goals were scored by Caufield.

The 21 year old winger now has 21 goals in 37 games this season. The only Habs players to score more than 21 goals last season was, well, Cole Caufield. He is now on pace for 47 goals this season.

A 50 goal season has not occurred in Montreal since Stephane Richer in 1989-90. Even if Caufield stalls at 40, he would be the first Canadiens player to reach that mark since Vincent Damphousse in 1993-94.

If Caufield gets to 36 goals, he will join Max Pacioretty as the only Canadiens player to score more than 35 since 1995-96.

No matter where the team ends up in the standings, every game will be worth watching just to see how many pucks Cole Caufield can put in the net this season.

Of course, he is also due for a contract extension before next season, so that is something to watch as well, but seeing him fire pucks past goalies is more exciting than trying to figure out how much it will cost to have him continue scoring goals in future seasons.

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