An NHL season can feature many twists and turns, which is something the Montreal Canadiens are familiar with.
Whether it's injuries that prompt callups from the American Hockey League, which end up allowing a player to showcase themselves. Or players who suddenly have a career season after a handful of seasons where nothing seemed to go right. Hockey is a fast sport as we all know and now more than ever, players are emerging as stars at younger ages, forcing older players to retired sooner if they can't keep up with the pace.
In hockey you never really know what's going to happen, it's not as though the sport changes, but teams that were in the basement climb into playoff spots the next year. Late draft picks who were overlooked, come into the league and end up being the best player of their draftclass. In some instances, a coach leads his team to the Stanley Cup final only to lose his job the following season, before the postseason reaches.
Three bold predictions for the 2024-25 Canadiens
One
Kaiden Guhle emerges as the organization's number-one defenseman, which pushes Mike Matheson out of the club. This merely means Guhle cements himself as the number one penalty-killing defenseman, while Lane Hutson secures the number one power play quarterback spot. Both instances mean that Matheson is expendable and Kent Hughes trades him for forward help
Two
Cole Caufield reaches 50 goals, while Juraj Slafkovsky scores 30 and reaches the 80-point mark. The top line takes another big step, securing themselves as one of the top 15 best first lines in the NHL. Nick Suzuki continues his strong two-way play, scoring 40 goals and 50 assists for 90 points.
Three
This one may be the least bold because he is viewed as one of the top rookies entering the 2024-25 season. He has also been viewed as one of hockey's top prospects since the Canadiens drafted him with the 62nd overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. But the third bold prediction is that Lane Hutson will win the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie, with a 15-goal and 60-point season.