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There was a lot of complaining two weeks ago when the team left too many points on the table after squandering two-goal leads.
Both collectively and individually, there was frequent talk of a “lack of maturity.”
Add to that Demidov's injury, along with those of Suzuki and Matheson—not to mention Dobes' lackluster performances—and some people were almost starting to dream about Landon Dupont, while others—the critics and haters—were spouting their usual taunts about certain players, the “management that's asleep at the wheel,” and so on.
The panic and sweeping conclusions at the start of the season always have a slightly comical side to them, especially on talk shows and social media!
Let's call it “present-day hyperbole”…
But who cares!
The Canadiens bounced back and strung together four straight road wins, showing us a much more mature style of play—one they hadn't even shown us last year.
In that regard, the public statements from some young leaders like Guhle and Caufield—following Xhekaj and Dobes' brain freezes late in the game and in overtime against San Jose—could very well become the first turning point of the season.
A great sign of maturity.
Then there are Derek Lalonde's new defensive strategies, which seem to be resonating in the locker room—particularly when it comes to zone entries while shorthanded.
Advances in the third period are also being defended in a much more calculated manner.
Here, it's the team's collective play and the group as a whole that are maturing.
Already impressive maturity on an individual level
The Canadiens are once again one of the youngest teams in the NHL this year, and they've just competed in a conference final where they were eliminated by the Stanley Cup champions.
All the criticism and disparaging comments that many took pleasure in writing during the first few weeks of the season consistently overlooked this point.
But it's also easy to forget that, in addition to last spring's semifinal and the unexpected playoff run in 2025, just like Philip Danault (2021) and Chris Kreider (2014).
What's even more impressive about this team is that several of their best young players have already racked up a very impressive number of games played.*
For your information, the average number of games played by an NHL player is around 300–325.
Nick Suzuki, just 27 years old, has already racked up 602 games and 529 points in the NHL, including the playoffs.
Cole Caufield? 425 games, 348 points, at age 25.
And let's not forget that Caufield and Suzuki also already have a Stanley Cup Final (2021) under their belts…
By the summer of 2025, 26-year-old Noah Dobson will already have 525 games and 293 points under his belt.
As for Alex Newhook, selected right after Caufield in the 2019 draft, he has 402 games and 176 points.
In a way, Juraj Slafkovsky's stats are even more impressive, given that he began his career at age 18: 319 games and 207 points—all by the age of 22!
JURAJ SLAFKOVSKY
JURAJ FREAKIN' SLAFKOVSKY
#GoHabsGo https://t.co/1wkQsxT7eL
— Montreal Canadiens (@CanadiensMTL) October 21, 2026
His good friend, also drafted in 2022—a certain Lane Hutson—has 203 games and 176 points to his credit! Hutson has transformed the Habs since his sensational arrival at just 20 years old.
Things are already off to a great start for Ivan Demidov, who made his debut at age 19: 103 games, 77 points.
Also, do you know of many current young NHL goaltenders who, at age 21, had already played 24 games in the big leagues?
Of course, there's only one: Jacob Fowler.
And, in the opinion of many observers, he already seems poised to establish himself as the #1 goalie… But it's also quite remarkable on the part of Jakub Dobes, who, at age 25, already has 87 games under his belt, including playoff games.
Among this young generation, aside from Fowler, only Wallstedt and Askarov seem poised to break that record, and as far as I know, only Dustin Wolf has played more games than him (134)—largely out of necessity in Calgary in recent years…
And, despite all the criticism he's faced lately, just six months ago, the Habs would never have made it to the semifinals without their great Czech goaltender, who clearly outplayed the Lightning's (Vasilevskiy!) and Sabres' (Lyon and Luukkonen) netminders.
No need for a costume…
So there you have it: on this Halloween, when many young people will try to make themselves look older with mustaches, beards, gray hair, wrinkles, and makeup, Martin St. Louis's “youngsters” won't need any of that to match the experience of the Pittsburgh Penguins—led by four or five players who've seen their fair share of action…
That doesn't mean they'll win tonight, but right now, the young Habs are in 6th place in the overall standings, and the veteran Penguins are in 24th place…
*Kirby Dach (347) and Kaiden Guhle (241) have unfortunately missed more than 300 NHL games combined due to injuries, but their experience is by no means negligible.
