December 10, 2025
On Tuesday night, the Montreal Canadiens entertained the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Bell Centre. It’s a good thing the Lightning were entertained, because the fans surely were not. It was an ugly 6-1 loss for the Habs.
I have one overarching take from the game.
The Canadiens have a veteran problem.
The Habs are a rebuilding team. They’ve been accumulating talent since the Winter of 2022, and nearly four years later, they have a good portion of what they need. The talent grab has been solid.
In Montreal, a logical next step should be to acquire complementary veterans to support the kids in their maturation and to complete the roster.
The fly in that ointment is this: the Canadiens already have veterans – they’ve just not been very good.
Goaltending
You’re probably thinking I should open my eyes and notice that the goalies in Montreal are not currently able to stop a beach ball. This is true, of course. The goalies have not been anywhere near good enough, and it’s virtually impossible to consistently win with bad goaltending. They need some pucks stopped.
Was anyone really expecting that the rookie, Jakub Dobes, would do better than 10 wins by the middle of December? If we’re frank, the Habs would be properly screwed right now if Dobes had not been as good as he has been.
The veteran starter, Sam Montembeault, has just five wins. That is something the Habs were definitely not expecting.
The Defense
Oh I know, they’re missing Kaiden Guhle. We hear that song on an annual basis… just as regular as Mariah Carey belting out All I Want for Christmas is You… and just as painful.
Are Struble or Xhekaj really doing less than we expected? We keep hoping one of them can convincingly grab that sixth spot, but neither is suited for a top-four chair. I don’t think this finding is unexpected.
Hutson has been strong. Dobson has played well. Matheson has probably been better than expected, and he’s the only veteran in the line-up we can truly say that about.
Alexandre Carrier’s game has been abysmal. A veteran in the group, he was expected to anchor that third pair this season. It was a reasonable expectation based on his play last season, but maybe we’re seeing the player Nashville was willing to trade.
The D group has two vets and 50% of them has disappointed.
The forwards
Can we expect more of that top line, with Suzuki and Caufield at more than a point-per-game pace and Slafkovsky playing the best hockey of his young career?
Can we expect two rookies – Kapanen and Demidov – to deliver more than they have with the musical chairs on the other wing?
With all the injuries, the Habs needed the veterans in the bottom six to contribute more and help stabilize the group. Gallagher, Anderson, Evans, and Veleno have been the opposite of contributing and stabilizing.
So HuGo made some call-ups after the beating. Good call.
Will Fowler replace Dobes or Monty? I know what the easy call is, but it’s not the right call. Will Engstrom replace Xhekaj or Struble, or the veteran that needs a wake-up call? I guess we know who Beck replaces with Evans away, but the list of options is longer than is comfy.
HuGo needs to get creative. Mid-season creative. Adversity-driven creative. And a Laval call-up is not likely going to be enough.
Hab At Her 