Lane Hutson: “We’re still a long way from our goal, and we know it.”

The Canadiens ended their season last night. It came down to yet another lopsided loss.

Right now, what people are focusing on is the fact that the last four games were probably among the Canadiens' worst of the 2025–2026 season.

The team really looked bad… after making the Hurricanes look bad in the first game of the series.

Right now, while the guys are still emotionally invested in the playoffs, the prevailing sentiment in town is one of falling short.

This was particularly evident when Lane Hutson, in a postgame interview, admitted that his team was still far from its goal of playing up to its collective potential.

“They played really well too, but I'm not really sure why we couldn't bring better. We're still far off, and we know it.”

Lane Hutson speaks with the media after the Canadiens were eliminated by the Hurricanes. pic.twitter.com/u3t63yxnQA

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 30, 2026

And he's right, in fact.

After all, Carolina represents the cream of the crop in the East in 2026, and the Habs weren't able to compete with that team in the final week.

The Carolina Hurricanes are the first team in #NHL history to reach the Stanley Cup Final with only one loss (12-1) in the first three rounds.

Since 1987, with the playoff expansion to four rounds of seven games each:

2026 #SoundTheSiren 12-1
2012 #LAKings 12-2
1988 #Oilers 12-2

Machine.

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) May 30, 2026

No one has really been able to, to be honest.

But the fact remains that once the season is analyzed with a cool head, the guys will be able to appreciate just how big of a step forward was taken this season.

No one expected them to make the playoffs before the season started.

The young players have improved. The team finished very high in the standings. Jakub Dobes has established himself. Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield reached significant milestones during the regular season.

We could go on and on like this, but you get the point: the Canadiens need to recognize the huge strides that have been made… without turning a blind eye to what still needs to be done.

I'm certain that the key people in Montreal already know what to focus on for 2026–2027.

Overtime

There's just one thing left to do before the season ends: locker clean-out. The players and management will step in front of the cameras to take stock of the season that just ended.

And after that, the guys can head off for the summer.