A Winning Habit
Fansided

Montreal Canadiens: How Habs Stack Up In Future Atlantic Division Arms Race

By Sebastian Valasek

MONTREAL, CANADA - OCTOBER 12: Juraj Slafkovsky #20 of the Montreal Canadiens, in his first career NHL game battles with Rasmus Sandin #38 of the Toronto Maple Leafs during the second period at Centre Bell on October 12, 2022 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, CANADA - OCTOBER 12: Juraj Slafkovsky #20 of the Montreal Canadiens, in his first career NHL game battles with Rasmus Sandin #38 of the Toronto Maple Leafs during the second period at Centre Bell on October 12, 2022 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 3
Next
LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS – NOVEMBER 10: Lane Hutson. (Photo by Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images)
LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS – NOVEMBER 10: Lane Hutson. (Photo by Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images) /

Where Do the Habs Fit?

Unlike Buffalo, Ottawa, and Detroit, Montreal seems likely (and eager) to add another high draft pick to their prospect pool this June. This would probably be wise. Though Montreal boasts an exhaustive list of prospects that fans have reason to be excited about, the 2026, 2027, and 2028 playoff races will be slugfests in this loaded division.

Juraj Slafkovsky, Lane Hutson, David Reinbacher, and Joshua Roy are all players who are yet to show what they will provide as fully-developed NHL-players. Though the most optimistic projections would have some of these players develop into superstars, it is important to be cautious and realistic when seriously evaluating the needs of this team.

Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Kaiden Guhle have shown that they will be (and are) good-to-great NHL players, the types that are core members of Stanley Cup winning teams. However, it would be foolish to equate that core to the MacKinnon-Rantanen-Makar or Kucherov-Point-Hedman that are needed to compete at the very highest level.

You can never count on all of your prospects being as good as advertised. Prospects are unpredictable, and though Montreal has lots of lottery tickets, few of them, if any, are guaranteed to become elite NHL players, like Matthews, Kucherov, Stutzle and Dahlin in the Atlantic.

Without at least one player of that calibre, of which Montreal has no clear candidates at this point, the Habs cannot even expect playoffs, let alone Stanley Cup contention.

Next. Three UFAs Who Could Realistically Sign With Habs. dark

A Winning Habit
A Winning Habit /

Want your voice heard? Join the A Winning Habit team!

Write for us!

Home/Editorials