Achi news desk-
After a successful five-game road trip scoring five of a possible 10 points, the Montreal Canadiens are back home for a five-game homestand.
The first opponent was the Philadelphia Flyers who are fighting for a playoff spot. Every game is important for the Flyers, so the points were badly needed, but Montreal was better with a 4-1 win.
Wild Horses
The top line can compete against any top line in the NHL. They may not have the huge numbers of points yet, but they are getting there.
Nick Suzuki leads the way. In the first period, Suzuki scored his 30th goal of the season to hit the water mark for the first time in his career.
Suzuki’s goal was on the power play. He received a tremendous pass from Juraj Slafkovsky and one timed difficult pass from Mike Matheson. It was tic-tac-toe and it was beautiful. Slafkovsky picked up a point for his ninth game in a row.
What a magnificent sophomore season for Slafkovsky. It marked his 41st point of the year. He adds to the record for most points in a season by a teenager in the Canadiens’ 115-year history. The previous mark was Mario Tremblay with 39 points.
Slafkovsky ends his teenage season at 41. His birthday is Saturday.
The point totals will continue, but as a 20-year-old player for the last 10 games. That’s a point total, as Slafkovsky has 23 points in his last 25 games. That is the second highest on the club in that time frame. Only Suzuki is higher with 27 points in his last 25.
The future looks so bright for that number one line as they are all still so young, and their ceilings are unknown and much higher still. Only Suzuki can be close to his top level, but even he is still making significant improvements to his game.
Slafkovsky is just starting to find out what he can do at the NHL level. Recently, he has stood in front of the net, and realized that no one can move him. Screens for goals off point shots and deflections for goals will be the result.
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In the second period, he drove the net with great force. The defender, who was a forward, had no chance at all to prevent Slafkovsky from muscle past him for a quality shot. When Slafkovksy realizes that he is unstoppable on that play, he will open up many opportunities for shots, and rebounds for his teammates who will follow him to the net.
Suzuki, Slafkovsky and Cole Caufield have just started.
Another newcomer is Cayden Primeau. He has had some growing pains as all goalies do. However, he is now showing some significant gains in his game at the age of 24. His save percentage is up to .913, which is outstanding in this year where the shooters are winning more battles than before.
Primeau made 81 straight saves at home before allowing a goal late in the third. The last time Primeau shined at the Bell Center when asked about his performance, he ended the on-ice interview with, “It’s just the beginning.”
He seems serious about that statement.
Wilde goats
Drafting from fifth to seventh appears to be a lock for a long time for the Canadiens. Any of those spots, and Montreal will have a first class lead. There are many great forwards and the positions of those forwards are so fluid that any one of them could be the star of the lot.
The thought is therefore that there is no need to doubt about the fifth versus the seventh. No one knows who will shine brightest in 2026; they are all interchangeable in that layer. Some may think Ivan Demidov is the best, and others favor Cayden Lindstrom. Many others love Cole Eiserman, or Berkly Catton. The goal is simply to have one in this tremendous tier of talent.
However, the Canadiens certainly don’t want to keep playing like this. If they go on a strong winning streak to end the season, they could drop down to draft 10th. That would be a problem. The Canadiens want to make sure they get one of the five forwards in the tier just below Macklin Celebrini.
It’s a long shot, sure, but the Canadiens are playing extremely well as the season winds down. They need to stop that and start playing better in October, so they can draft from fifth to seventh to get one of the outstanding forwards in this draft.
Wilde cards
The Canadiens would love to sign Lane Hutson to play this season, so they’re locking him in on his entry-level contract, but it looks like that might be difficult. Boston University Hutson is just one win shy of advancing to the Frozen Four in Saint Paul, Minn., beginning April 13th.
Regionals are now underway and the Terriers have already played their opening game. As the number two team in the country, Boston University had an easy draw to be with RIT as their opponent. Hutson scored the opening goal and added an assist as the Terriers won 6-3.
Boston University will take on the winner of Minnesota-Omaha in the regional final. The winner of that game plays in two weeks; the loser is done for the season. Should Hutson lose Saturday’s contest, he would be free to sign with the Canadiens.
He would be able to play the last eight or nine games of the season, much like Sean Farrell did last season when Harvard was eliminated in the regional. If Hutson makes it to the nationals, then he would only be available for one or two games before Montreal ends its season.
Canadiens management would love to get that sorted out before this season ends. Both sides have expressed interest in an immediate signing, but it’s not done until it’s done. The Calgary Flames didn’t think they were going to have a problem with Adam Fox, either, and in the end he didn’t sign with the club that drafted him. American collegians have the right to opt out three years after being drafted.
The Canadiens’ other high-profile draft pick this weekend is Jacob Fowler. The goalie for the number one Boston College Eagles plays on Friday against Michigan Tech in the afternoon. Fowler is expected to play another season at the college level, if not two more years. A goalkeeper’s development curve is longer than that of a forward or defender.
Brian Wilde, a Montreal sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after every Canadiens game.
