Canadiens Players Seeking Career Milestones This Season

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The Montreal Canadiens 2023-24 season does not promise to be one of the best in the long history of the franchise.

Of course, when a team has done as much winning and has employed as many superstars and Hall of Fame members as the Canadiens, the bar is set pretty high for a memorable season. Nothing short of a Stanley Cup championship is considered a huge achievement for the organization.

Yeah, that run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021 was memorable, and fun to watch, and captured the attention of the fan base for those couple of months. But years from now, will people speak of the great run to the finals in 2021 when discussing all the historic accomplishments of the Montreal Canadiens franchise?

Well, honestly, probably not. And the 2023-24 season probably won’t go down in history as one of the most memorable in franchise history either. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be historic moments along the way.

There are a number of individuals on the roster that are set to achieve a rare milestone in the upcoming season. Several players are on the verge of games played, or goals scored milestones that may not set Habs records, but will be accomplishments those players remember for the rest of their lives.

With expectations low for the Canadiens in the upcoming season, watching some of their best and biggest fan favorite players chase down and achieve individual accolades will be something worth keeping an eye on for all fans this season.

So, who is on the verge of reaching an important benchmark in their career? There are many, so we are going to take a look at five different players who are close to reaching a major achievement in their career and will likely do so with the Habs in the upcoming season.

Cole Caufield

Cole Caufield is a bit young to be looking to reach any significant milestones, but he may be able to scratch one significant milestone off the list already.

It is likely that we see him play his 100th game, but that isn’t really a big milestone when you consider how many players have done it in the history of the game. Anyone who hangs around longer than one full season is likely going to hit 100 games played.

But, not all of them will score 100 goals in their careers. Caufield is heading into just his third season, and he battled injuries most of last season, and it still just 22 years old, but he could very well reach 100 goals in the 2023-24 season.

It would take quite an effort, as he currently sits at 53 goals scored, meaning he needs to put up 47 this season to reach the century mark. But he could do it. The young sniper scored 26 times in just 46 games last season. That had him on pace for 46 over a full 82 game schedule. He would not need to increase his production by much next season to get there, he would just need to stay healthy and score at the same rate he did in 2022-23.

Reaching 100 goals is not the most noteworthy benchmark in a player’s career, but if he can do it this season, he will get there in 205 games played, or less, which would be quite a feat to begin his career. It is definitely something worth keeping an eye on as the season goes along.

Jake Allen

Jake Allen heads into next season starting off a two-year contract extension. He is almost certain to reach a couple of notable milestones, but can he hit them both in the 2023-24 season?

Allen will have to have his role defined at some point in the upcoming season as well. Right now, the team has Allen, Sam Montembeault and Casey DeSmith under contract for the 2023-24 season. They aren’t likely to keep all three, and it seems likely that Montembeault will be the starter while Allen serves as his backup and DeSmith is shipped out elsewhere.

Even in that situation, Allen is going to get 30-35 starts, and could get even more if Montembeault struggles or gets injured. This would be a similar role that he played the past two seasons, and he has really been a backup since arriving in Montreal three years ago.

Still, Allen is 33 years old and made his NHL debut in 2012, now over 11 years ago so he is approaching some impressive milestones. One he is sure to reach is 400 games played. He already has 395 and should reach the 400 mark around the end of October. He would be the 124th goaltender to ever reach that milestone.

He could also reach 200 wins this season. It would take an impressive season, as he sits at 183 now and would need to win 17 games in the upcoming season to get there. He won 15 last season and nine the year before, but the team should be a little better in 2023-24, right?

If Allen gets to 200 wins, he isn’t going to the Hall of Fame or marching to the top of the wins list, but it would put him in a tie for 96th most wins in NHL history, which is quite an accomplishment all things considered.

As a tremendous leader and great teammate it would be great to see Allen reach a career milestone like 200 wins and he is just 17 away.

David Savard

David Savard has been around the NHL for a long time. He was originally drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the fourth round of the 2009 NHL Draft.

After starring for the Moncton Wildcats for another season after being drafted, the Quebec native played parts of three seasons in the AHL with the Springfield Falcons before becoming a full time NHL defenseman.

He was a mainstay on that Blue Jackets blue line for nearly a decade before being dealt to the Tampa Bay Lightning where he helped them win a Stanley Cup. He has played the past two seasons with the Canadiens, suiting up for 62 games each season.

He has now played a total of 735 games in his lengthy NHL career that has now spanned 13 seasons. That puts him on pace to reach 800 career games at some point this season. He would need to stay healthy and suit up for 65 of the team’s games, which is a few more than he has been able to play in recent seasons.

If he can, he will reach a meaningful milestone in his career. At the age of 32, and with him turning 33 early in the upcoming season, it would leave him with a reasonable chance to get to the 100 game mark if he can stay healthy this season and move past the 800 game barrier.

It is something that 748 other players have already done in the history of the game, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be worth mentioning when Savard gets there as well.

Brendan Gallagher

Brendan Gallagher has been the heart and soul of the Habs for the past decade. He just shows up and works as hard as he possibly can, battles for every inch of ice and shows the other players on the team the right way to play the game.

The 2010 fifth round pick has played a long career in the NHL, overcoming his size disadvantage to be a successful NHL player for a long period of time. He has battled plenty of injuries in his career, especially in the past couple seasons, and his offensive production has dipped over the past two years as well.

However, he could still reach a couple of significant milestones this season. He has played 675 games in his career and if he can just stay healthy enough to play 25 times in 2023-24 he will make it to the 700 game plateau.

He has also scored 202 goals as well as 193 assists in his career. That means he has a total of 395 points at the NHL level, which puts him just five short of reaching the 400 point barrier.

Neither of those achievements will put him among the all time greats or near the top of either category, but he has overcome a lot and should be celebrated when he reaches any milestone. For a player that was deemed too small to be selected in the first four rounds of the NHL Draft, and has battled some significant injuries in his career, these are a couple of noteworthy achievements that are well within reach for one of the most beloved Habs in recent memory.

Sean Monahan

Sean Monahan has not been around the Canadiens as long as Gallagher, but he is another player who has battled several injuries throughout his career.

Monahan was not a late draft pick that was overlooked like Gallagher was. In fact, Monahan was taken 6th overall in his draft year by the Calgary Flames and immediately made the NHL roster the following October.

The 28 year old became something close to an iron man early in his career as he played 75 games as a rookie and then missed just two games over the next three seasons combined. He would then play seasons of 74, 78 and then 70 games though injuries were starting to pile up. He had a few injuries that slowed his production late in seasons but he delayed surgeries until the offseason so he would miss minimal time.

He was shut down early in the 2020-21 season as well as the following year and his point production dropped off as well. He had just 28 points in 50 games in 2020-21 and then 23 points in 65 games in what would be his final season in Calgary.

Last season, he scored six goals and 17 points in 25 games in what appeared to be a bounce back season, but he was then injured again and missed the remainder of the season.

Monahan had to undergo wrist surgery following the 2016-17 season. A year later he would have a total of four surgeries including his other wrist, groin and two herniated discs. He cracked his thumb late in the 2018-19 season. In the 2020-21 season, he suffered a hip injury early and had surgery in the offseason, and the following year he had surgery on his other hip.

After all of those injuries, Monahan is still just 28 years old and could reach the 700 game mark next season. He has played 681 so far, so he just needs to suit up for 19 games to get there. He also has 479 points and could reach the 500 point plateau if he notches 21 points in the upcoming season.

For a player who battled so many serious injuries throughout his career, it would be fantastic to see Monahan reach the 700 game mark shortly after turning just 29 years old. Hopefully, better health is in his future and he is able to blow past those milestones and continue piling up points and games played for another decade.

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