Despite a snapped losing streak, patience is undeniably wearing thin among Montreal Canadiens fans. The Habs simply aren’t living up to heightened expectations, even if they were simply for more of a competitive team with the mere potential to make the playoffs.
On the surface, that seems like a pretty reasonable ask. Then again, if you’re anticipating a non-playoff finish, it’s kind of splitting hairs over where they finish in the standings, when it’s widely established the Habs are still incredibly young and rebuilding.
If fan sentiment continues to trend lower, it wouldn’t exactly be an exaggeration that changes of some sort will result. Ultimately the Canadiens answer to the fans. So, whose blood in the water will they seek out first? This latest edition of Canadiens Scapegoat Search lists the top five candidates:
5. Nick Suzuki
Mark these words: There will come a time when over-zealous fans tired of all the non-playoff seasons turn their attention to captain Nick Suzuki as the supposed reason why. They’ll inevitably suggest the Canadiens can’t possibly win with him leading the charge, just like with his predecessor Max Pacioretty at the helm. And technically they were right then.
Maybe they’ll be right this time around, too. However, even if they are, they’ll probably fail to consider the following in the process of making their argument:
- The chances of one team out of 32 winning it all are very low to start.
- The team around him isn’t exactly championship or even playoff-calibre right now.
- He’s the No. 1 centre the Canadiens have needed for literally decades.
So, with specific regard to the last point, chasing him out of town is probably how this thing ends, right? Right. Thankfully, there’s some time before things get that bad.
4. Kent Hughes
General manager Kent Hughes is already feeling some heat, however negligeable it may be. To be fair, neither he nor executive vice president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton did themselves any favours suggesting the Canadiens should be in the mix at the end of the season. Not even a month in, even that non-committal prediction looks incredibly optimistic with a near-last-place 5-9-2 record.
However, Hughes’ own predecessor, Marc Bergevin got a decade, many of those years underwhelming in nature… without having been given the mandate of completely rebuilding the team. With that in mind, Hughes is far from on the hot seat. Even with their heightened expectations, fans weren’t envisioning a playoff spot, let alone a playoff run.
So, once reality sets in that the Canadiens will most probably earn another high draft pick, they’ll probably come to terms with the pretty clear-cut fact Hughes has done just about the best he can under less-than-ideal circumstances.
3. Sam Montembeault
As the team’s last line of defense, goalie Sam Montembeault’s crease can probably feel pretty lonely. And that’s speaking metaphorically, forgetting the times the young Canadiens defense has left him to literally fend for himself all alone.
There must have been times Montembeault has felt on top of the world, for example after starting the season 2-0 with only a single goal allowed on 73 shots (.986 save percentage). However, he’s likely felt the exact opposite, having fallen back down to Earth with a 4-7-1 record, 3.42 goals-against average and .890 SV%. So, as someone who’s in the best(/worst) position to enjoy all the accolades or have most of the criticism directed at him, with the Canadiens playing so badly, it’s only natural for fans to lay some blame at his doorstep.
The logical fallacy is, Montembeault has, as just mentioned, fallen back down to Earth. What we’re seeing in him now is what he’s shown himself to be in the past: a capable NHL goalie who can steal the odd game, but who isn’t someone a playoff team would rely on as a No. 1. That he stormed out of the starting gate shouldn’t be held against him, with most long since realizing, despite hopes against all odds to the contrary, he’s probably little more than a placeholder for a longer-term, upper-echelon solution in net (whoever that ends up being).
2. Martin St. Louis
Head coach Martin St. Louis has probably felt it getting a bit hotter on the bench, at least under his collar, as the Canadiens have struggled significantly more than initially anticipated. Unsubstantiated rumours the Habs have talked to a potential (eventual) replacement in veteran Gerard Gallant to complement him in the immediate future probably haven’t helped.
Related: Canadiens Head Coach St. Louis Shouldn’t Be on Hot Seat
Even so, realistic expectations were never for them to make the playoffs, only to be in the mix by the end of the season. As a result, any suggestion St. Louis should be let go run counter to the undeniable fact the team is still rebuilding. In that context, replacing him with someone else amounts to jumping the gun.
Whether St. Louis is the man for the job once the team becomes more competitive is less certain. However, the Canadiens weren’t built to win now, being as young as it is. The Habs should be given the chance to grow into their individual roles, at which point they as a whole should be much better. St. Louis deserves the same level of patience, as he continues to grow into his.
1. Mike Matheson
One player has seemingly drawn more fan ire than most… for scoring a fourth-ranked 10 points in 16 games. That’s defenseman Mike Matheson, who hasn’t exactly fallen off the personal-best pace he set in 2023-24, when he scored 62 points, literally one of the best single-season point totals for a defenseman in franchise history.
Nevertheless, to many, he personifies what’s wrong with the team:
- A lack of defensive awareness
- A veteran in the way of rookie development
Forget the fact rookie Lane Hutson, who arguably displays less defensive awareness, is in sharp contrast celebrated for Matheson’s exact same point total. Matheson, at the advanced age of 30, apparently, doesn’t belong in the future plans of the team and should have been traded at the last trade deadline, when his production had supposedly peaked and he had two more seasons under contract. Despite the “A” he wears and the clear evidence suggesting the team requires more veteran leadership.
All that taken into account, come the 2025 deadline, there’s good reason to believe Matheson will have been traded to appease the fan base one year closer to the expiry of his deal. Now, trading Matheson isn’t critical, in that neither Arber Xhekaj nor Jayden Struble, two other left-handed defensemen, have established themselves as key components of the team’s future. However, it would at least enable the Canadiens to move Kaiden Guhle back to his natural side, instead of playing him on the right, where room would open up for Logan Mailloux and/or David Reinbacher starting next season.
In that sense, Matheson probably doesn’t factor into the Canadiens’ future, as an eventual unrestricted free agent in 2026. However, he is a native-son, French-speaking, productive leader on this team who, under normal circumstances, should be embraced during a rebuild, not borderline ostracized. One thing is for sure: For better or worse, he’s on his way out, probably sooner rather than later.
