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Montreal Canadiens: Three Key Habs Storylines As 2023-24 Season Begins

By Ken MacMillan

Sep 30, 2023; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens left wing Juraj Slafkovsky (20) plays the puck against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the second period at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 30, 2023; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens left wing Juraj Slafkovsky (20) plays the puck against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the second period at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports /
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Sep 30, 2023; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens left wing Juraj Slafkovsky. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 30, 2023; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens left wing Juraj Slafkovsky. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports /

Who Takes Biggest Steps Forward?

The Canadiens are built around young core players at this point in their rebuild. Their top six forward group includes Nick Suzuki who is 24, Cole Caufield who is 22, Kirby Dach who is 22, Alex Newhook who is 22 and Juraj Slafkovsky who is 19 years of age.

The defense has plenty of youth as well. Kaiden Guhle starts the season at 21, Jordan Harris is 23, Arber Xhekaj is 22 and Justin Barron is 21. That is an incredible amount of youth to have on the roster to begin the season. It is also more incredible that none of them are rookies as they all played in the NHL last season.

That means they could take a big step forward this season with that experience under the belt. One of the biggest storylines to watch all year will be the development of these young players and keeping an eye on who takes the biggest leap forward.

We could see Slafkovsky take a big step after an up and down rookie season that was stunted by injury. Could it be Harris turning into a reliable two-way defender that moves into the top four or could Guhle take the next step into a dominant presence on that blue line who can eat up a ton of minutes every night?

Or could newcomer Newhook click with a new team and turn in to an offensive force or does Caufield continue his terrific goal scoring pace and become a Rocket Richard candidate this season?

All of these questions will be reasons for excitement and the development of these young players will be a key storyline as this season goes on.

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