Power rankings: The Athletic ranks the CH 4th

Michaël Petit
Power rankings: The Athletic ranks the CH 4th
Credit: Vitor Munhoz/NHLI via Getty Images

The Montreal Canadiens are having a lot of success these days.

They have won 10 of their last 11 games, and two players reached major milestones in the last game (Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky).

However, the team's success goes beyond individual player performances.

The team is very tight-knit and is starting to make a name for itself as one of the most dangerous teams in the NHL.

In fact, The Athletic published its NHL power rankings earlier today, and the Habs are ranked 4th.

In their latest power rankings, The Athletic placed the Habs in 5th place, which is also very good. Now, only the Colorado Avalanche, the Carolina Hurricanes, and the Dallas Stars are ahead of them.

In the article written by Dom Luszczyszyn and Sean Gentille, there are on average two paragraphs for each team, and they award a prize or trophy to each club.

As for the Habs, the award goes to Noah Dobson. You read that right—it wasn't given to Nick Suzuki, Caufield, Slafkovsky, or even Lane Hutson.

The award in question is the Kris Russell Trophy, honoring the player with the most blocked shots.

Indeed, as some already know, Dobson leads the league in that category this season with 187 blocked shots.

Without making much of a splash, Dobson is having a great season and can be considered a unsung hero for the Blue and White this year.

Although he's far from his 70-point output in 79 games two years ago, his 47 points in 79 games this season are nothing to sneeze at.

Moreover, Dobson seems to have found his role with the Habs and is logging significant ice time, which gives Mike Matheson and Lane Hutson a chance to rest.

When you add up Caufield's historic season, the excellent campaigns of Suzuki, Slafkovsky, and Hutson, Dobes' brilliance in front of the net, and Dobson's importance, it makes for a winning formula.

Even if, on paper, there are still some gaps to fill, the Canadiens will be very dangerous in the playoffs, especially when you consider the physical presence of Josh Anderson, Arber Xhekaj, Jayden Struble, and even Joe Veleno.

It will be interesting to see how the Habs fare in the playoffs.


In a nutshell

– Indeed, what a pass by Slaf.

– I have a hard time believing there will ever be a rivalry between two players as exciting as the one Crosby and Ovechkin gave us over the years.

– Interesting.

– Welcome to the majors, Brandon.

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