Team Roster: The CH ranks… 23rd in The Athletic’s rankings

Marc-Olivier Cook
Team Roster: The CH ranks… 23rd in The Athletic’s rankings
Credit: Capture d'écran - X

Since the start of the season, the Canadiens have a record of 4-3-1.

Four wins, three losses in regulation… and another overtime loss.

Is that great? The answer is no. Is it a problem? The answer is (again) no. 

The Habs may not have gotten off to the start they hoped for, but I thought it was harsh to see The Athletic rank the Montreal club… 23rd in the latest edition of its power rankings.

In theory, it's as if that meant that, in The Athletic's eyes, the Canadiens are no longer an elite National Hockey League team. Because at the end of last season, The Athletic ranked the Habs 4th on its list of the best teams in the Bettman era…

And Sportsnet did too, for that matter: 

Of course, there are still plenty of games left to play.

But it's true that the Canadiens will need to start racking up wins if they still want to make the playoffs next spring. It's (already) very tight in the Atlantic Division, and it's likely to stay that way until the very end of the regular season:

(Credit: Screenshot / NHL.com)

It remains to be seen whether the Canadiens' start to the season will, in part, set the tone for the rest of the regular season.

But we also know that the team has had to make do without Ivan Demidov in recent weeks; he's played only two games since the start of the season. Kaiden Guhle and Mike Matheson have also had to sit out games, which isn't ideal.

It's hard to be this good when a team is missing one of its best offensive players and one of its top defensemen. The Canadiens may have great depth, but that doesn't make up for the absence of a talented player like Demidov or a solid defenseman like Matheson or Guhle…


Quick Q&A

– Yes.

– They have great chemistry.

– I like that.

– Amazing.

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