Experts predict the Montreal Canadiens will finish near the bottom of the standings again this season. However, as videos surface of their young prospects looking deep in training and the developmental growth of players like Juraj Slafkovsky, Cole Caufield, and Joshua Roy, it's getting harder to see how the Canadiens can't improve from last season. Those facts don't even include hopeful, healthy seasons from Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook.
Caufield and Nick Suzuki took part in a media day on Tuesday for the 2024 President's Cup. The President's Cup is a bi-yearly golf tournament that pits the best American players against the best players from the rest of the world (minus Europe). The battle will take place in Montreal this year.
The pair interviewed with some of the media companies covering the event. After they discussed how golf affects their life, they fielded some questions about the upcoming season. They both answered some interesting questions about the upcoming season.
"Making the playoffs is our goal. We're all coming in wanting to make the playoffs and go as far as we can and win the Cup. Every year, you're climbing that mountain trying to get to the top. We took a great step in the right direction and I think we will continue to do that with our group getting a bit older and more mature."Nick Suzuki
Suzuki is captain of the Canadiens because of his leadership abilities and ability to deal with the media. Many people will say that it's just Suzuki saying the right things and they don't believe they can win the Stanley Cup. However, I noticed one important thing about the comments. He didn't mention anything about a rebuild or developing players. Every answer over the past few years has returned to one thing to explain why they are losing: trust the rebuild. However, an organizational shift from "rebuild mode" to "contend mode" shows that Canadiens fans will soon see some exciting hockey deep into the season.
""It's pretty exciting. Everyone in the organization is fired up for that pick [Ivan Demidov]. A couple of us have reached out. He seems like a really good kid and from his highlights, it's pretty fun to watch. Everyone should be excited to get a player like that and I know we're excited."Cole Caufield
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It also shouldn't come as no surprise that Caufield is raving about Ivan Demidov's abilities. Another game breaker in the top six will free up players like Caufield to generate more offense, and it feels like Caufield and Suzuki believe the Canadiens will be contending for a cup soon after Demidov completes their lineup.