What makes a player underrated? The perception they’re not as valuable as they really are. In the specific case of the Montreal Canadiens, as they improve significantly year after year, it’s getting harder to find players who fit the bill, because, on the really good teams, everyone is seen as contributing in some fashion. And the Canadiens are turning into one.
Related: Most Underrated Montreal Canadiens in 2024-25
Last year, forward Cole Caufield and defensemen Jayden Struble and Mike Matheson made this list of the most underrated Canadiens for 2024-25. Caufield “responded” with a career-high 37 goals. Struble found success on a pairing complementing eventual-Calder Memorial Trophy-winner Lane Hutson.
As for Matheson… well, here are this coming season’s top three:
3. Patrik Laine
Patrik Laine actually made last year’s list of the most overrated Canadiens, heading into 2024-25. It seems he was so overrated that the success he enjoyed this past season, fresh off a stint in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program and sustaining a serious knee injury in the preseason, wasn’t good enough. Apparently, there were still a lot of fans and analysts who had been expecting him to be the same teenager who scored 44 goals once upon a time.
As a result, Laine felt the brunt of some heavy criticism when he scored just 20 goals and 33 points in 52 games, most of his production coming on the power play due to a lack of mobility and effectiveness at even strength. While disappointing, that shouldn’t come as a shock considering the aforementioned knee injury and the fact the Canadiens acquired him for next to nothing, with defenseman Jordan Harris going to the Columbus Blue Jackets AND a second-round pick coming back the other way. Like, what were you expecting?
All things considered, with Laine leading the team with 15 power-play goals in the mere 52 games he played, he was a legitimate difference-maker… for the better, in case that wasn’t clear. Yet, he still got tagged with the label of a potential cancer, when, get this, literally once he returned from injury on Dec. 3, the Canadiens, who were last in the Eastern Conference at the time, started playing .621 hockey to near-miraculously make the playoffs. You can’t make this stuff up, although many tried.
Not to go out on too much of a limb here, but being a cancer is bad. His critics understand that, right?
Is Laine a defensive liability? Sure. Is Laine’s contract an overpayment, with a cap hit of $8.7 million? Undeniably. However, the Canadiens knew he was and that it would be, by sheer virtue of what they didn’t have to give up to get him. They clearly don’t regret acquiring him, after having made the playoffs, though. And anyone suggesting they should cut bait and trade him are actively ignoring sheer common sense… and the dictionary, apparently.
2. Mike Matheson
This is the exact same spot Matheson found himself in on last year’s list of the most underrated Canadiens. The main differences are:
- After his production got halved from the career-high 62 points he scored in 2023-24, with Hutson taking over his position on the first power-play, he can no longer be considered as getting with better every season; He is 31 after all (to match his point total).
- With the Canadiens having dropped him down the depth chart to make room for the 21-year-old Hutson, Matheson is no longer largely seen as being in the way of the team’s younger players on defense.
Perhaps as a result, Matheson is instead seen as a potential third-pairing defenseman, and that may prove to be technically accurate. After all, with the acquisition of top-pairing-defenseman Noah Dobson and Hutson winning the Calder Memorial Trophy last season, there may not be room for another pure puck-moving defenseman in the top four. That doesn’t change the fact Matheson just led the entire team in ice time (25:05) and has a great deal more in principle to contribute.
Similar to with Laine, Matheson is a pending unrestricted free agent. He’s also a good trade chip in the right light. However, even if he were to be deployed on the third pairing, he can still be valuable, providing the depth and veteran leadership other teams in the Canadiens’ position, i.e., looking to make an impact in the playoffs, would be seeking at the deadline.
Both should stay, in other words.
1. Brendan Gallagher
A 20-goal season is nothing about which to scoff. It’s arguably even more significant coming off the stick of Brendan Gallagher at Age 33, when the last time he had been that productive was literally before the pandemic.
At that point in time, Gallagher had been seen as one of the team’s top forwards who was elite in his ability to drive play. While his production (and subsequently role on the team) decreased dramatically over the following years, his ability to drive play remained relatively intact. Consider the following stats compiled by Montreal Hockey Now’s Marc Dumont during last season’s 4 Nations Face-Off break: Gallagher led all regular Canadiens in high-danger shot share (59.5%) and expected goals share (53.8%).
At the time, Gallagher also ranked among the bottom-five forwards in terms of shooting percentage (9.3%), which probably reflects the perception he’s a drag on the team. His $6.5 million cap hit, which certainly doesn’t reflect his current role on the team, far from helps in that regard.
Generally speaking, the sense is the Canadiens would be better off if they were able to trade the contract (and the man). However, conveniently ignoring his no-movement and modified no-trade clause, Gallagher’s bounce-back season is a sign he still has something left in the tank over the remaining two years he has left on his deal. So, would that really be wise? Knowing how much of a positive presence he has the capacity to be at the bottom of the line-up? For a young team short on veterans? That is looking to improve on its first-round finish last season?
Ex-general manager Marc Bergevin, who signed Gallagher to his current deal, used to say there are players who get you to the playoffs and players who get you through them. Based on the team’s 2021 run to the Stanley Cup Final, Gallagher undeniably falls into the latter category. His past season would suggest he’s also in the former. Regardless of how much he’s overpaid, conceivably in return for the years before during which he was dramatically underpaid, he is also incredibly underrated. That’s what (all) the stats say.
