“I think the CH will finish first in the Atlantic Division in 2026-27” — Grant McCagg

Michaël Petit
“I think the CH will finish first in the Atlantic Division in 2026-27” — Grant McCagg
Credit: Vitor Munhoz/NHLI via Getty Images

As we know, the Montreal Canadiens play in a very competitive Atlantic Division.

Fans were expecting some additions to the team (specifically to the top six on offense), but so far, there have been no changes to the main roster.

Elsewhere in the division, a few teams have improved, including the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Florida Panthers.

However, even though the Habs haven't brought in reinforcements for the top-6 or on defense, it's important to note that the team is very young and the core should simply get better. This is even more true when you consider the playoff experience they gained last spring.

Grant McCagg, in fact, believes the Habs will finish first in the Atlantic Division during the 2026–27 season.

Honestly, that's not at all far-fetched, because if the team racked up 106 points last year as the youngest team in the East, why couldn't it do even better?

We also have to consider that the Tampa Bay Lightning (who were ahead of the Habs in the standings) are aging—slowly, not quickly—and the Buffalo Sabres haven't improved. They lost Alex Tuch and Bowen Byram (and added Louis Crevier and Olen Zellweger), which could clearly cause them to drop in the standings as early as this season.

The problem for the Habs this year will be the Panthers and the Leafs.

The Tkachuk brothers, Aleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart, Brad Marchand, and many others will form a pretty dangerous (and exhausting) core.

On the other hand, the defensive corps is by no means the most dominant. Aaron Ekblad and Seth Jones are very good defensemen, but it's the left side in particular that's lacking.

Gustav Forsling, Niko Mikkola, and Dmitry Kulikov don't necessarily make up a very strong left side…

For Toronto, Gavin McKenna could very well make a difference with his talent, though it might take him some time to establish himself.

The additions of Darren Raddysh and Sergei Bobrovsky will certainly help the team, but Toronto has also lost the services of Simon Benoît, Joseph Woll, and Nick Robertson (among others).

These aren't the biggest losses, but Benoît is a very good defensive defenseman who's somewhat underrated, and Nick Robertson has plenty of talent and could break out this season in Pittsburgh.

Auston Matthews will also need to step up and bounce back from a season to forget in 2025–26.

If the Habs don't finish first in the Atlantic Division, they'll certainly be very close to doing so.


In a Nutshell

– Read this.

– Landon DuPont does it again.

– What a shame…

facebook icon Share twitter icon Tweet linkedin icon Share
Copied!