Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield just hit maybe the quietest 60 points you’ll ever come across. You’d be excused for not knowing. Firstly, the team’s dominant 9-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on April 10 overshadowed his lone assist to get there.
Secondly, it’s not exactly the milestone most Canadiens fans had their eyes on out of Caufield at the start of the season. After he scored 26 goals in 46 games last season, 40 in 82 was realistic. Fifty wasn’t out of the question. So, the mere 24 he’s scored with just four games left are disappointing. Still, for a fourth-year, 23-year-old forward, 60 points is a nice stepping stone to greater things, after he hit 100 career points way earlier in 2023-24.
Related: Canadiens Milestone Watch: Habs Set to Hit It Big in 2023-24
Other Canadiens have obviously hit their own milestones themselves over the long season. However, a few remain within reach as 2023-24 draws to a close. Here are the biggest ones:
Juraj Slafkovsky
Coming off his first-career hat trick in the same rout over the Flyers, Juraj Slafkovsky is riding high. However, he should have his sights set on arguably bigger things.
That’s saying a lot. After all, he’s already captured two team records: most points in a season and longest points streak (nine) in franchise history, each by a teenager. However, if Slafkovsky could score one more goal and two more points, he’d reach 20 and 50 on the season, which would be a huge accomplishment for any sophomore.
Some may pessimistically suggest the hypothetical totals are still a disappointment for a former first-overall pick. Consider the following, though: He had just two goals and seven points in his first 29 games this season. That means, in Slafkovsky’s last 49 games, he’s got 17 goals and 41 points.
For some perspective, rookie phenom Connor Bedard, who obviously went first overall a year later, has 59 points in 64 games, putting them in the same ballpark. Objectively, Bedard is superior, but it shows Slafkovsky, now just 20, has improved significantly in a short time since joining the top line. It’s where he should stay.
Brendan Gallagher
Earlier this season, Brendan Gallagher hit 400 career points. Seeing as he had started the season off at 395, it was really a matter of when, not if. While 500 is obviously in the distant future based on his recent production problems (dating back a few seasons now), one more point is well within the realm of possibility.
True, Gallagher’s scored 13 goals and 13 assists this season, meaning he’s four points off from 30. However, let’s be real. That’s not a milestone about which it’s worth writing home. It’s the single point that would move him past legend Howie Morenz (and Stephane Richer) on the team’s all-time scoring list with 422 career points. And if it ends up being a goal? He’d move past another legend in Elmer Lach (and Ralph Backstrom) with 216, further cementing his own status in Habs history.
Alex Newhook
Alex Newhook probably doesn’t get the love he deserves, with a modest 31 points in 51 games. The thing is, not only is he one goal away from tying his career-high 14, but he’s also three points from setting a new career high there too, all in a debut campaign with the Canadiens cut drastically short by injury. As an added bonus, the three points will put him at 100 for his career.
Now, on their own the hypothetical 14 goals (and his current 31 points) may not scream top-six forward. However, Kirby Dach notched 14 goals last season too (38 points in 58 games), effectively putting Newhook on the same pace, having already been compared to death to the former.
The point is, Dach was almost universally celebrated for having broken out last season. As a result, many saw him as eventually usurping Nick Suzuki as the team’s No. 1 centre. The difference is Dach accomplished what he did largely as a winger on the top line. Due to a string of injuries, Newhook was effectively forced to play down the middle.
Newhook’s since come alive with 18 points in his last 26 games, soon after returning from his own months-long injury stint. There’s no milestone there, just acknowledgement he’s begun to deliver on the promise of his potential when he was acquired. That’s a bigger deal than it’s been made out to be.
Joel Armia
Joel Armia’s resurgence has been well-documented. As a brief summary, after getting cut to start the season, he seized an opportunity resulting from a rash injuries to re-establish himself as an NHL forward, going so far as to be named the team’s candidate for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.
Now Armia will never light the league on fire as a prolific scoring forward. Defense is more his strength as a penalty-killing specialist. However, he’s since reached a career-high 17 goals (also against the Flyers). Based on his increased pace of production, i.e., six goals in his last eight games, another three to bring his season total to 20 are at least possible.
Samuel Montembeault
In a vacuum, goalie Samuel Montembeault’s stat line this season has been okay. He’s 16-15-7 with a 3.10 goals-against average and .904 save percentage. It’s nothing special… until you consider the 16th victory (also over the Flyers on April 9) tied his career high from last season.
So, if/when Montembeault wins another game, he’ll set a new personal best. Perhaps more impressively, that next win will put him at 50 for his career… and tie him with Jake Allen, with whom he was in quasi-competition the last few seasons to become the team’s No. 1 goalie, for 41 on the organization’s all-time list. Taken altogether, it seems almost too coincidental to be true (but it is).
Mike Matheson
The debate continues to rage regarding whether or not the Canadiens should trade Mike Matheson. One thing is clear: If the Habs do go that route, they’d make a killing, as he’s one point away from his first-ever 60-point season (at just 30 years old with a mere $4.875 million cap hit for two more seasons).
With that one point, Matheson would move into the Top 20 in terms of highest-scoring seasons among Canadiens defensemen in history. It’s unlikely with just four more games to play, but, if he were to score five more, he’d move into the Top 9… and a tie for the highest-scoring season this century (Andrei Markov in 2008-09 and Sheldon Souray in 2006-07). Not for nothing, but he’d also tie Chris Chelios (1984-85). That’s pretty good company.
Nick Suzuki
A point-per game season may be out of the question for Nick Suzuki, with 75 points in 78 games so far. That means he’d have to score seven over the last four games, which, while possible, seems unfair to expect after all he’s accomplished already this season. It would no doubt be nice for him to become just the second Canadiens player this century to get there (Alexei Kovalev with 84 points in 2007-08), but a nice round 80 is tad more realistic.
Even if Suzuki doesn’t even get that far, he needs just two assists to tie Jeff Petry on the list of the team’s all-time assists leaders. Three meanwhile ties him with Mike Keane, moving him into the Top 50 in that category.
That having been said, to a degree, Suzuki has the unlikeliest path to hitting his hypothetical milestones relative to everyone on this list. However, by virtue of him having already put together the most productive season of any Canadiens player since Kovalev, he’s arguably already hit the most significant milestone on this list too.
However, just for the sake of clearly explaining what’s at stake: If Suzuki were to get the five points, he’d jump all the way from the 69th-highest-scoring season in team history into a tie for No. 49. Seeing as he’s so close, it would be a shame to see him miss getting into the Top 50. On the other hand, seeing as he’s hit new career highs in points season after season, who’s willing to bet he’s not right back here on the cusp in the not-too-distant future?