It isn’t just that 2024-25 was a raging success for the Montreal Canadiens. They also get massive style points. Despite the first-round playoff defeat at the hands of the Washington Capitals, in just five games no less, it’s hard to feel too down about the team.
Related: Top 5 Canadiens Feel-Good Stories of 2023-24
Far from everything may have gone picture perfectly. If it had, everyone would be talking about how they won the Stanley Cup, after all. Instead, things went about as well as can be reasonably expected under the circumstances, with these five feel-good stories pulling the lion’s share of the weight:
5. Gallagher Continues His Career Resurgence
When Brendan Gallagher honoured his late mother after scoring an empty-net goal against the Ottawa Senators on March 18, it marked an impressive, season-high three-point performance. It also brought an end to a nine-game pointless stretch, but more significantly the start of one during which he scored six goals and 13 points in 12 games.
Obviously, there’s nothing to feel good about regarding Gallagher’s loss. Sincere condolences to him and his family. Nevertheless, by season’s end, he had scored 21 goals and 38 points, his highest totals since the 22 goals and 43 points he had scored in 59 games in the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season.
It was yet another step forward for the now-33-year-old, after he also ended 2023-24 on a high, with five goals and 10 points in his last eight games. While Gallagher’s injury history is long and the toll it’s presumably taken on his body significant, it’s hard to deny he’s still got something left after having been an elite winger for this organization for so long. Look past his easy-to-hate contract. You’ll find someone who’s easy to root for, not just because of his hard-nosed style, but also because he’s still finding ways to contribute.
4. Montembeault Makes Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off Team
Goalie Sam Montembeault making Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off mid-season tournament probably didn’t generate as much hype as it should have, probably because he was always a long shot to get in games. The fact he didn’t end up seeing any action, as expected, shouldn’t take away what was an incredible accomplishment for a goalie who had been seen as a third-stringer upon his acquisition off waivers to start the 2021-22 last-place season.

This isn’t necessarily the culmination of Montembeault’s impressive development into, first, a legitimate NHL goalie and, second, a legitimate NHL starter. One has to hope he has higher still to go. That it’s even a possibility he does is incredible and a testament to the faith the organization has shown in him and the hard work he has presumably put into establishing himself as, undeniably, one of the best Canadian goalies in the league. It’s a shame (or rather shameful) Montembeault’s success here had become subject to a debate on so-called politics. However, the analytics meanwhile say he could become one of the best goalies in the league (overall). This could still just the relative beginning.
3. Demidov Arrives Early and Makes Immediate Impact
Ivan Demidov made a surprise late-season debut, when initial widespread expectations had been for him to only come to North America from Russia to start 2025-26. At the end of the day, you’re looking at him officially being part of the organization for just an additional six months. However, based on how he scored two points in his first-ever period in the NHL, adding two assists in the team’s five playoff games, it appears he’s more than capable of delivering on the hype, with the odds calling him the favourite to capture the 2026 Calder Memorial Trophy as the league’s top rookie.
In short, the excitement surrounding Demidov was palpable when he was drafted fifth overall in 2024. It’s only grown, since it became a certainty he would in fact make the move to North America, when the concern he would stay overseas is probably the primary reason he fell as far as he did. This is a projected 100-point talent. Him finding immediate success, albeit over a small sample size, is incredible news for a team looking to take the next step in its rebuild this coming season.
2. Canadiens Make Playoffs for First Time Since 2021
There’s nothing like spring in Montreal when the Canadiens make the playoffs. Their “run” may have only lasted five games, but, after putting the accomplishment of simply clinching a playoff berth in the proper perspective, the significance becomes clear. The Habs are ahead of schedule, when the team’s goal, at least the goal that had been publicized externally, was simply to be in the mix.
As a result of the Canadiens having made the playoffs, expectations for 2025-26 get heightened. Obviously, it’s possible the Habs falter to a degree. However, just by virtue of them having gotten as far as they did, having played .621 hockey since Dec. 3 (a points percentage on par with the season-long performances of the Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning), when they had been last in the conference, the success they enjoyed looks to be sustainable.
Even if the Canadiens had fallen short of a berth, them having turned their season around to the degree they did would have been commendable. However, it would have simply been seen as a hollow moral victory to a degree. After they made it, the achievement transformed into a clear stepping stone for future (greater) success.
1. Hutson Wins Calder
When defenseman Lane Hutson won the Calder Memorial Trophy, he did more than simply bring an end to a Canadiens curse dating back to 1972, when goalie Ken Dryden last won it, which says a great deal. In and of itself, that would have been enough to secure the top spot here. However, he also put an exclamation point on a historical season rife with accolades and records, both of the organizational and league variety.
There’s little point getting into all the records Hutson set. Those have been well-documented. It’s in sharp contrast incredibly worthwhile to break down the significance of his accomplishment(s) on this specific team, which has arguably struggled with a lack of star power for years if not decades.
Now, assuming the Canadiens lock up Hutson, they’ll be securing the talents of a projected star in the making for presumably the best years of his career, with Demidov potentially following suit up front as the Calder favourite for 2025-26. Put simply, the immediate and long-term future looks good if you’re a Habs fan. After they’ve successfully climbed out of the league basement bit by bit, it looks like the team is poised to soon contend for that ever-elusive 25th Cup. It warms the heart.