Canadiens fans have a right to dream big about up-and-coming young talent

The Montreal Canadiens are lucky enough to have an influx of young talent who will, even if the Habs themselves don’t have a good team, at least put on some unforgettable performances this season. Okay, so it’s hard to make that assumption when we’re another month from the puck dropping to kick off the 2024-25 NHL season, but it’s also called dreaming big. 

And yes, after what we saw last year, you and the rest of the Habs fanbase, wherever you’re located, have the right to dream big and expect players like Nick Suzuki to put together their best season yet. Here’s a little reminder of what the Habs top four points producers did last season:

• Nick Suzuki: 77 points, 33 goals
• Cole Caufield: 65 points, 28 goals
• Mike Matheson: 62 points, 11 goals
• Juraj Slafkovsky: 50 points, 20 goals

Three of those players are still in the earlier stages of their respective careers, and with built-in chemistry, optimism with adding Patrik Laine, and another year’s worth of playing alongside one another as Suzuki, Caufield, and Slafkovsky are residing in their respective prime years, expecting a lot out of them isn’t just an option, but the preferred option. 

High expectations for young Canadiens players should include goaltending

There may not be a better goaltending situation in hockey than the one headed up by Sam Montembeault and Cayden Primeau. Sure, there are better ones out there, but again, when you take the situation the Habs find themselves in for 2024-25, there’s only one I can name that can challenge it: Joel Hofer and Jordan Binnington in St. Louis. 

Other than that, you can’t help but admire what Montembeault and Primeau did in what was yet another throwaway season last year. Montembeault may have only finished with a 0.903 save percentage, no shutouts, and a 3.14 GAA, but look at his quality starts percentage, which stood at 0.700. 

He did all this with a bad hockey team, so in a season that will see a better group out there, Montembeault could end up as a top 10 goaltender, or close to. And again, it’s okay to expect him to at least hit the top 15 mark and to do so in a convincing way. 

Then, there’s Primeau, who finished with a 0.524 quality starts percentage, indicating that he was up and down despite his 0.910 save percentage, two shutouts, and 2.99 GAA. This season, it’s more than okay to expect Primeau to not only build off his numbers, but to find more consistency as he should get even more time in the crease. 

The overall takeaway is that we’re still looking at a young team in 2024-25 who would shock the entire league if they snuck into the playoffs. But given the young talent on the Habs, it should shock nobody if their younger, more exciting forwards and goaltenders came in and put up big numbers consistently, growing on their respective 2023-24 performances.