The Montreal Canadiens aren’t getting much love overall. Oddsmakers have the Habs earning the same 76 points in the standings they just did, which flies in the face of all logic, seeing as they’re undeniably a rebuilding team literally on the rise, having improved each of the last two seasons.
Related: Canadiens Who Are the Most Underrated for 2023-24
So, it stands to reason, if the Canadiens are underrated, there are individual players who are as well, heading into 2024-25. Here are the top three:
3. Jayden Struble
If Jayden Struble were on almost any other team, he’d be on the verge of becoming a permanent, full-time NHLer, after a fairly impressive 56-game rookie season in 2023-24. However, because these are the Canadiens, who boast a young defense corps and an even more impressive prospect pipeline, he’s become the forgotten man on defense, as players like Lane Hutson, Logan Mailloux and David Reinbacher get all the attention.
Now, Struble can still make the Canadiens. It’s just, as he’s exempt from waivers, he’s probably become the likeliest candidate to be sent down to make room if necessary, for players like Hutson and Mailloux. What may be worse (for his development), as a still 23-year-old, he could make the team out of training camp, but just end up rotating in and out of the lineup as a seventh defenseman.
It’s not an injustice as much as he is simply a victim of circumstance. Maybe he may not have the ceiling of a Hutson, but he has earned a place in the conversation based on his play, at the very least. However, the fact no one is talking about him goes to show how unappreciated he is.
2. Mike Matheson
You wouldn’t know it based on some of the recent chatter about Mike Matheson, but the guy just put together one of the most prolific seasons for a Canadiens defenseman in history. You can understand why, in the sense players like fellow-leftie Hutson represent the future. However, if Hutson were to earn an 11-goal 62-point season too, defensive concerns and all, everyone would be singing his praises as a back-end stalwart. What shouldn’t be forgotten is the Habs have one now.
More to the point, Matheson is only 30. Due to how he’s improved on his point totals in each of the last three seasons before posting the career highs he just did, he’s arguably only getting better on a cost-effective contract that expires in 2026. Some may be frustrated by how Matheson appears to be in “the way,” but he’s only doing what has been asked of him, and with relative aplomb, providing valuable leadership to the young players in question as an alternate captain in the process.
That’s the perception by some. Despite the disillusionment some feel towards the guy, if Matheson is only getting better, the Canadiens are at little risk of minimizing the haul they earn when they finally do trade them. Despite how Hutson in contrast is perceived, the fact there is general manager Kent Hughes has gone on record as saying they won’t just keep him up in the NHL to just be a power-play specialist. It wouldn’t be the worst thing for him to play in the American Hockey League temporarily as a result.
There’s nothing wrong with keeping Matheson around until Hutson acclimates to a busier scheduled (relative to his college days) and he proves himself more valuable than the former, justifying a trade at that point. At least there shouldn’t be.
1. Cole Caufield
All of a sudden, new-acquisition Patrik Laine has effectively usurped Cole Caufield as the team’s best chance at a 40-goal scorer, seeing as the former has actually reached that mark in the past. Last season, Caufield fell well short with 28 goals scored, which are only disappointing in light of him having hit 26 tallies in an injury-shortened 46-game 2022-23.
Over a full 82-game schedule, those 26 translate to 46. So, you can see how some fans see last season as a failure. However, forget optimists. Realists would consider how in 2022-23 Caufield scored 36 total points, which translate to a prorated 64. That means, the 65 points he just scored represent a career high in every sense of the term.
If you take into consideration how Caufield’s shooting percentage dropped considerably to 8.9% (11.7% in his career), he’s poised to bounce back not just with more goals, but as more of a complete, well-rounded hockey player. Maybe some see that as wearing rose-coloured glasses. However, 40 goals or not, Caufield is still projected to play above Laine as a first-line winger… and a deserving one at that.
The focus should be on how the Canadiens are projected to get significant scoring from the team’s top two lines at least, not who specifically gets them all. Now, that is a cause for optimism.
