After their fourth consecutive loss, it looks like there will be no Montreal Canadiens postseason hockey for fans to cheer about this season. However, the 2024-25 playoff season should feature the Laval Rocket, as they sit in first in the North Division after an 8-1-1 record through January. It's a tight race in the Eastern Conference, and the Rocket struggled through December which allowed some other teams to get back in the race, but they've sorted things out over the past month.
The resurgence started when Cayden Primeau was sent down from Montreal. He hasn't lost a game since his demotion, owning a 7-0-0 record with a 1.83 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage. One concern for the Rocket is the Joshua Roy injury, which takes away their third-leading scorer on a week-to-week basis. However, offseason acquisition Alex Barre-Boulet has been performing exactly how the Canadiens wanted, with 32 points in 33 games.
The Canadiens will have to walk a tight line as they head into the trade deadline. It's likely that some pending unrestricted free agents will head out the door, but they won't want to send too many high upside players to Montreal and risk them losing the development and experience that will come with a postseason run in Laval. They could send them back down after the NHL regular season, but the playoff race is almost to tight to risk them not playing the Laval regular season.
The Canadiens want their prospects getting big game experience, which is why keeping the prospects in the AHL for the rest of the year makes sense with the direction Montreal is going. It also brings up an intriguing question of whether they'll return Jakub Dobes to Laval to finish out the year at some point, as some of the lustre of his hot NHL start has worn off.
Laval may also soon get a boost from David Reinbacher, who has been rehabbing his knee injury. Reinbacher's presence on the backend would be a massive addition to the playoff run, and could be the piece they need to get over the hump and become favorites for the Calder Cup, depending on who the Canadiens send down to join him.