The Montreal Canadiens have one of the youngest teams in the NHL heading into the 2024-25 season. There are so many players who are expected to have breakout campaigns and build on their totals from last season. Guys like Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Patrik Laine are some names who are expected to hit career highs. But who are some players who haven’t blossomed into established players quite yet? Here are three Montreal Canadiens breakout players.
Montreal Canadiens Breakout Players
Kirby Dach
Kirby Dach is set to finally experience a breakout season that should’ve happened last year, Unfortunately, his season was cut short after just four periods of hockey as he suffered a freak injury that kept him out all year. Still, Dach appears in good spirits and is poised to show he was worthy of the third overall selection in 2019.
Dach is expected to begin the year as the team’s second-line centre behind Nick Suzuki. Martin St. Louis will want to give the Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Juraj Slafkovsky line a chance to build upon their success from last year. That leaves Dach with Patrik Laine and Alex Newhook to flank him. With Laine’s arrival, Dach may be sent to the second power play unit to begin the season. It’s unlikely that we will see this parity continue for an entire season though. The Canadiens finally have options up front and with the potential for injuries, it’s almost a given that we will see some line changes up front throughout the year. Still, Dach is being given a great opportunity and he has all the talent in the world to capitalize on it. However, coming off of a significant injury it is better to take a conservative approach with expectations.
Projection: 58 Points
Kaiden Guhle
Twenty-two-year-old Kaiden Guhle‘s on-ice maturity is evident whenever you watch him play. He shows poise that typically is seen in ten-year NHL veterans. He has struggled with injuries and consistency in the past couple of seasons but has still been one of the team’s best defencemen when healthy. Guhle signed a six-year deal in the offseason with an annual cap hit of 5.5 million. With this comes expectations of a breakout campaign and a player who can blossom into a legit top-four defenceman. He just had his appendix removed in surgery last week. However, should be ready for the season opener, and if not won’t miss more than a game or two.
Last year, Guhle notched twenty-two points in seventy games with the Canadiens. Guhle’s point totals will never jump off the page, especially when he doesn’t receive power play time. That likely won’t change now that Lane Hutson is also in the squad. Nevertheless, Guhle is a reliable defenceman who can log big minutes and be a physical presence on the backend. He is expected to play on the right side of Mike Matheson on the team’s top pair this season. He struggled at times with the transition to the right last season but should be more equipped to handle the role moving forward. A healthy season where he is logging top minutes and shutting down opposing teams’ top lines would be a success for Kaiden Guhle. It also wouldn’t hurt to see his numbers take a slight jump as well, playing alongside Matheson full-time should help that.
Projection: 35 points
Lane Hutson
As far as prospects go, Lane Hutson is the Montreal Canadiens best player not named Ivan Demidov. His electrifying offensive potential has been displayed at every level he has played. Hutson looked like a man against boys at this year’s rookie tournament. He is poised to make a strong run at the Canadiens roster and could even quarterback the team’s power play by season’s end.
Question marks surrounding Hutson’s defensive game and size have often followed him, threatening his chances at the NHL level. This is why Montreal snagged him in the second round of the 2022 draft. This is the same draft where they took Juraj Slafkovsky first overall. Hutson put that narrative to rest in his first two games in the NHL last year. In two games versus the Detroit Red Wings, he notched two assists as well as some electrifying moments that had the Bell Centre faithful on their feet. He was no slouch defensively either, winning puck battles and being sound positionally.
Hutson will likely begin the season with veteran David Savard in his right. This is expected to be a good partner for Hutson. It allows him to ease into the NHL and let his offensive game flourish. With his offensive potential and some power play success, a Calder trophy nomination isn’t out of the question for Hutson. Among Montreal Canadiens players, Hutson has the potential to be a big breakout candidate.
Projection: 46 Points
Main Photo Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
