Montreal Canadiens: Five Things Habs Need To Get For Christmas

The Montreal Canadiens entered their short Christmas break with a record of 15-13-5 to give them 35 points in 33 games played.

They remain outside the playoff picture at the moment, but are on pace for 87 points which is more than anyone predicted for them at the beginning of the season. That would keep them alive in the postseason chase for a while, but they would need to be better in the second half of the season to actually get in.

The team should be proud of what they accomplished, especially when everyone expected a bottom five finish and they lost top six center Kirby Dach in the second game of the season. However, they could always look and hope to be better in the final 49 games of the season.

In order to be better over the rest of the season, they will need a little help. Today is the day to be asking for help, and here are the five things the Canadiens should be hoping for as Christmas gifts this holiday season.

Health

Every hockey team could use good health in the coming year and the Canadiens are no expection to that rule.

In addition to Dach being out long term after just four periods of hockey this season, Alex Newhook will be out for a while, Rafael Harvey-Pinard is on injured reserve, Tanner Pearson is hurt, Chris Wideman hasn't played yet and Jordan Harris has missed more time than anyone expected. We also saw David Savard, Christian Dvorak and Kaiden Guhle miss time with injuries.

Hopefully the Canadiens can get a little more injury luck in 2024 than they have had in recent years. That would surely lead to better results but also, and more importantly, it would mean better development from the team's youngest players which is the main goal this season.