Canadiens report cards following a much-improved season
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)