The Montreal Canadiens exceeded expectations this past season by making it into the Stanley Cup playoffs and putting up a decent fight against the Washington Capitals.
This summer, with the blockbuster trade acquisition of former New York Islanders star defenseman Noah Dobson, expectations for the Canadiens will be even higher in 2025-26.
But even with Dobson on board – and with him making Montreal’s defense corps one of the better ones in the NHL – how high is the bar for the Canadiens? And how should Habs ownership and management deal with the results that come in throughout the season?
In the grand scheme of things, the Habs overachieved last season. Although their core of young talent was admirable in that they made themselves a playoff team despite the odds not being in their favor, there were few observers who believed they could actually do it.
The Canadiens were last in the Eastern Conference by American Thanksgiving last year, which is the unofficial point where teams in or out of a playoff spot generally stay there.
But under the guidance of coach-of-the-year candidate Martin St-Louis, Montreal’s players pushed the envelope and went 32-20-8 the rest of the season. Nick Suzuki was tied for the ninth-most points in the NHL from Nov. 29 onward, with 69 in 60 games, and Calder Trophy winner Lane Hutson increased his offensive production to get 54 points. Cole Caufield had 24 goals and 52 points, while Sam Montembeault and Jakub Dobes were a reliable tandem in net.
This team came away from the season putting its opponents on notice – getting into the playoffs would be a bare minimum from this point on.
If the Canadiens take a step back, it would be a disappointing campaign. But it wouldn’t be the first time a young team suffered a setback and wobbled a bit. Progress isn’t always linear. In the highly competitive Atlantic Division, Montreal will have a slew of teams gunning to overtake them and squeeze into the playoffs in a wild-card spot, including the Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres, Boston Bruins and, in the Metropolitan Division, the New York Rangers and Columbus Blue Jackets.
That said, if the Canadiens disappoint and miss the playoffs, it would be a huge mistake to do anything drastic with this group. Habs GM Kent Hughes has painstakingly put this group together, and it would make no sense to start dismantling part of the core simply because they failed to meet expectations in a single season.
The full-time arrivals of Dobson, Zack Bolduc and rookie Ivan Demidov will ramp up expectations, but things go awry for the Canadiens. Maybe they dig another early-season hole and cannot dig out of it the way they did this past season, when the Rangers and Bruins dropped out.
Of course, that’s the pessimistic point of view. The optimistic view is that Montreal builds on last season’s performance and follows up a strong regular season in ’25-26 by winning a playoff round or two. But the Canadiens will probably be a playoff underdog no matter who they take on in the opening round next spring, simply because their youngsters haven’t demonstrated they have the wherewithal to send a veteran team packing in the post-season.
It took a long time for the Canadiens to get back on the right track and re-establish themselves as a team to reckon with, and nothing that happens next season should result in management and fans allowing their eyes to wander off the ultimate goal for the organization – namely, being a Cup front-runner year in and year out for the next decade or longer.
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With it now being August, many of this year's notable unrestricted free agents (UFAs) have found their new homes. While this is the case, there are still some UFAs with plenty of experience who have yet to get signed.
Among the top UFA defensemen still on the market is former Chicago Blackhawks blueliner Jan Rutta.
Given Rutta's resume, the possibility of him landing another contract in the NHL should not be ruled out. The two-time Stanley Cup champion has been a steady stay-at-home defenseman throughout his career, and he could be a nice pickup for teams looking for more depth on their right side of their blueline because of it.
Rutta played this past season with the San Jose Sharks, posting three goals, six assists, nine points, and 81 blocks in 54 games. Overall, while his offense was down in 2024-25, he still made an impact with his defensive play. Perhaps this could lead to landing a one-year deal or professional tryout (PTO) before training camp gets here.
Rutta played the first two seasons of his NHL career with the Blackhawks. In 80 games as a Blackhawk, he recorded eight goals, 18 assists, 26 points, 36 penalty minutes, and 85 blocks. His time with the Blackhawks ended when he was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning during the 2018-19 season.
Blackhawks Made Good Move Bringing Back Key ForwardDuring the 2024 NHL off-season, the Chicago Blackhawks brought back Teuvo Teravainen on a three-year, $16.2 million contract. With this move, the Blackhawks expected him to be a key part of their top six as they look to take that next step in their rebuild.
Photo Credit: © Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images
The Toronto Maple Leafs and Nick Robertson's camp are reportedly $1.05 million apart in their arbitration filings.
The Maple Leafs are looking for $1.2 million on Robertson's next contract, while the left winger filed for $2.25 million, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported on Friday. Their arbitration hearing is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 3.
Toronto has about $2.93 million in available cap space, according to PuckPedia.
Robertson, who elected for arbitration in early July, is the only player left who could be headed to a hearing. The 10 other RFAs who filed for arbitration and two whose teams filed for arbitration signed new deals, including the Seattle Kraken's Kaapo Kakko, Buffalo Sabres' Bowen Byram and Winnipeg Jets' Gabriel Vilardi.
In 69 games this past season, the 23-year-old recorded 15 goals and seven assists for 22 points. In 2023-24, Robertson played more than 15 NHL games for the first time, putting up 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points in 56 games.
Robertson averaged 12 minutes of ice time under first-year Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube, a career high. But in the playoffs, he only appeared in three games: Games 1 and 2 in the first round against the Ottawa Senators, when he had one assist, and Game 5 against the Florida Panthers, when he scored. He averaged 9:59 of ice time in the post-season.
The Maple Leafs lost right wingers Mitch Marner and Ryan Reaves and left winger Pontus Holmberg in free agency, while Max Pacioretty remains a UFA.
That said, Leafs GM Brad Treliving added Matias Maccelli, Dakota Joshua and Michael Pezzetta to the wings this off-season.
Toronto also still has Calle Jarnkrok, Steven Lorentz and David Kampf as bottom-six options, while either Bobby McMann or Max Domi will likely be on the third line with the other on one of the top two lines.
Regardless of the contract Robertson signs, he could face competition in earning a spot on the second or third lines. He has proven at times to provide solid secondary scoring, with an average shot speed of 62.73 mph that ranks in the 89th percentile of NHL players, according to NHL Edge.
As Friedman mentioned when reporting arbitration filings for the Jets' Dylan Samberg, who since signed a three-year contract worth $5.75 million annually, these filings are strategic. An arbitrator will often award a contract in between the two filings, leaning toward the team or player's filing.
More to come.