Canadiens report cards following a much-improved season
The Montreal Canadiens made significant improvements in 2023-24, and these improvements occurred in every phase of the game.
The Montreal Canadiens grades are based on the team’s overall performance for 2023-24 compared to what they did in 2022-23, as opposed to how they ranked vs. the rest of the league this past season.
Now that the team’s core is solidifying, expectations will increase in 2024-25, so next season is when we can talk more about how well the Habs are stacking up against the other 31 NHL teams and grade them accordingly. So, how much did they improve in a one-year span, and will they keep the 2024-25 season from being a throwaway campaign?
When you look at the Canadiens overall performance in the offensive zone, it was demoralizing, with just 236 goals and a 26th-place finish in the league. In 2022-23, they also took 26th and scored 232 times, so there was hardly any improvement. But why should we feel so optimistic about the way they played in the offensive zone?
The Canadiens didn’t score much, but there should be optimism
For one, their youngest stars were responsible for 81 of those goals, with Nick Suzuki logging 33, Cole Caufield scoring 28, and Juraj Slafkovsky finding the net 20 times. That should be an encouraging stat line for the Habs, and even more enticing is the fact all three of these youngsters were in their age-24 and under campaigns.
Another youngster, Alex Newhook, scored 15 goals in just 55 contests, so you can only wonder what he can do with a full season of play. With Newhook, the Habs have four talented scorers at forward, and their sheer talent will help the rest of the team find the net even more next season.
Overall, they’re getting a solid C-plus, with optimism among their younger forwards serving as the clear upside. The only real downside is that there wasn’t much overall improvement from 2022-23 to the current season.
Defensive zone play will improve even if it was so-so this season
Things didn’t look promising from an overall statistical ranking for the Habs defensively, as they finished 28th in the NHL with 289 goals allowed. Montreal also allowed 2,738 shots on net in the defensive zone, or 33.39 per game. They are all numbers that clearly need to venture southward, but as opposed to the 2022-23 season, there was some improvement, as they allowed 18 fewer goals.
There was also a slight improvement in shots allowed, but not enough to confidently say there was a southward trend here. In 2022-23, that number stood at 2,753, or 15 more than they allowed this season. The Habs did, however, improve in the Corsi For at 5-on-5 by 0.9 percent, logging 45.4 last season and 46.3 this year.
Overall, the Habs didn’t improve much defensively, but they at least stepped in the right direction, and that’s much more than what can be said about a few teams this year. Since there wasn’t enough improvement to get overtly excited about but no step back, the Habs will get a solid C here. But for 2024-25, there must be substantial improvement to receive a passing grade.
Improving special teams must be an objective for 2024-25
Predictably, the Canadiens didn’t fare well on special teams, but it also wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Even when compared to the rest of the NHL, they finished with the ninth-lowest penalty kill percentage of 76.53 and just one notch under their top rival, the Toronto Maple Leafs.
But compared to last season, the Habs penalty kill improved by nearly four points from 72.73. If that pace continues for 2024-25, they will cross the 80 percent threshold, which could theoretically lead to the unit sitting comfortably in the top half of the 32-team field.
Their power play also ranked among the worst in the league for the second year running, but they also saw improvement, even if it wasn’t to the same extent as their PK. Still, 17.46 is better than 16.10, and it shows the Habs can at least climb out of the bottom 10.
Thanks to the substantial improvement in the penalty kill unit and even nominal improvements in the man advantage, the Habs get a B-minus here. It will be intriguing to see what the PK does next season, and they may get some help from improved goaltending.
Verdict
While the grades may not be encouraging to some, this year was all about improvement. Sure, some of those improvements were small, but for a team like the Canadiens that tore almost everything down and is slowly building back up, any improvement is a step forward, and the Habs did that.
But this franchise is nowhere near finished with its rebuild, and forwards Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Alex Newhook are just the cornerstones offensively. Blueliners like Mike Matheson have also and will continue to produce well in the offensive zone, and you should expect them all to find twine even more next season.
Defensive zone play didn’t improve much, but they will take even more steps forward next season, as will the power play. The penalty kill could sneak into becoming one of the better units in the league if they see another large jump in productivity.
Overall, a C-plus is a fair grade for the Habs, and while the very average grade may be disheartening, it shows that this team took steps forward in each facet of the game. No, the Canadiens weren’t a lot of fun to watch this season, but there was certainly more to cheer for than in 2022-23.
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(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)