Five things to watch for with the Canadiens when they return from the Christmas break

Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Five things to watch for with the Canadiens when they return from the Christmas break
Credit: Getty Images

As of December 26, the Canadiens are still on holiday.

On Sunday afternoon (December 28 at 5 p.m.), the club will face the Lightning in Florida. Tomorrow, in anticipation of that game, the Canadiens' players should be skating, to help the turkey go by.

Not everyone did what Lane Hutson and Ivan Demidov did when they skated on Christmas.

With NHL hockey set to get back on track very soon, there will be several issues to watch out for with the Canadiens. I raised five of them for you this morning.

What are they?

1. The goalie issue, and more specifically Samuel Montembeault, is the hottest one in town. Will he be back in Laval for a while? Will he be on the plane to Florida, or will the Habs consider waivers?

Right now, Jacob Fowler doesn't deserve to go down, which complicates the matter.

I don't think the Canadiens want to take Monty out of the organization without a veteran going the other way. But I don't get the feeling that the Habs are in a hurry to see him play with the big club again.

A deal involving a goalie, even if it's hard to do in 2025, is not totally out of the question. And that's even if Kent Hughes hasn't opened the door to such a scenario recently.

2. Jake Evans missed the last few games before the holidays. Alexandre Texier was unable to finish the December 23 game due to injury.

Who will be able to play the next game? Right now, everyone is holding their breath on the Evans issue…

3. In recent days, we've seen Kirby Dach and Kaiden Guhle skate. We know that Dach may be a few days away from a return to action, if all goes well… and that Guhle shouldn't be too long either. When will they be back?

In the case of Patrik Laine and Alex Newhook, nothing is imminent. Quite the contrary, in fact.

4. As long as Guhle isn't back, Adam Engstrom can probably stay up top. But in the short term, forwards like Samuel Blais and Owen Beck are at risk of returning to Laval. Especially the Québécois, in fact.

It will depend on the state of the injured players, but Blais could well return to Laval in the short term.

5. More generally, we'll be watching how the club plays in the coming games. After all, going on the road after Christmas is never easy. Stops in Sunrise, Tampa Bay, Carolina, St. Louis, and Dallas are on the menu.

We know that if the club manages to do well on this trip, it can give the training a boost. Last year, it helped the Habs revive their season.


overtime

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– Has a page just been turned?

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