8 Habs players are on track to score 15 goals or more this season

Scoring goals has not been an easy task for the Canadiens in recent years.

Often – too often, in fact – it was evident that there was a lack of offensive power within the team, which partly explains the club’s failures over the past few seasons.

But it seems that the trend is changing.

I’m saying this because the Canadiens could have eight scorers with 15 goals or more by the end of the season if all the guys stay in town and continue to produce at this level.

And it’s been a long time since we’ve seen this in Montreal:

• Cole Caufield: pace of 42 goals over an 82-game season
• Nick Suzuki: pace of 24 goals over an 82-game season
• Brendan Gallagher: pace of 22 goals over an 82-game season
• Jake Evans: pace of 22 goals over an 82-game season
• Patrik Laine: pace of 35 goals over a 58-game season
• Emil Heineman: pace of 20 goals over an 81-game season
• Alex Newhook: pace of 15 goals over an 82-game season
• Joel Armia: pace of 15 goals over an 82-game season

Let’s remember that Laine missed the first 24 games of the season, while Heineman missed one.

That’s why we shouldn’t project over 82 games. Heineman will play 81 games if he stays healthy, and Laine will play 58 if he doesn’t have to sit out.

We don’t know if Armia and Evans will be around after March because they could be traded before the trade deadline.

But still: for now, both guys are doing well.

In the second half of last season, we saw Juraj Slafkovsky break through.

He finished the campaign with a total of 20 goals… And it could happen again this year if he finds his rhythm.

There’s also Josh Anderson, who is giving himself a chance to finish the season with 15 goals or more. If he maintains his current pace, he would finish the season with 13 goals, but we know Andy can also have a good streak.

All this to say that there are currently eight players on track to score 15 goals or more this season with the Canadiens, and we shouldn’t necessarily rule out Slaf and Anderson from the equation.

It’s a nice change after the recent tough years offensively.

Overtime

In all this, we somewhat overlook Lane Hutson because he has only two goals this season.

But the Canadiens’ defenseman is rather racking up assists.

He could accumulate 54 assists (over 82 games) if he keeps his current pace. For a rookie playing defense… That’s more than excellent.