The Montreal Canadiens are headed into what is potentially their most anticipated season of the last decade. The team is loaded with exciting young talent, and after making the playoffs, expectations have been set that they will qualify once again. With all of the talent on the Canadiens’ roster, who are the top players on the team? Let’s take a look at the top-ten Montreal Canadiens of 2025-26.
Ranking Montreal Canadiens’ Players
The Rankings
- Nick Suzuki
- Cole Caufield
- Lane Hutson
- Noah Dobson
- Juraj Slafkovsky
- Sam Montembeault
- Kaiden Guhle
- Zachary Bolduc
- Ivan Demidov
- Patrik Laine
Analyzing the Top Five
The Canadiens have some elite talent at the top of this list. Captain Nick Suzuki is the team’s clear top player. He became the first Canadien in over a decade to reach the 80-point mark. Suzuki put the team on his back down the stretch and willed them to the playoffs. He is followed by young sniper Cole Caufield and breakout rookie Lane Hutson. Caufield reached new career highs last season in both goals and points with 37 and 70. As for Hutson, he burst onto the scene this past season and posted one of the best seasons by a rookie defenceman in decades. His 60 assists tied an NHL record for rookie blueliners, and his feats earned him the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year. This year, he looks to build upon his early success and establish himself as one of the league’s premier defencemen.
Noah Dobson and Juraj Slafkovsky round out the team’s top five players. Dobson was acquired in a blockbuster trade prior to the draft this off-season. Montreal traded both of its 2025 first-round picks as well as Emil Heineman in exchange for Dobson. He is one of the league’s best offensive defencemen. He already has a 70-point season under his belt under a weak Isles offense. With his big frame, Montreal hopes he can round out his game and be an elite two-way defenceman for the next eight years.
Slafkovsky is coming off his second straight campaign of over fifty points. The former first overall pick hasn’t been able to put together a consistent 82-game season yet in his career. However, he has cemented himself as the full-time linemate of Suzuki and Caufield. With a full season together, this could be the year we see Slafkovsky break out into a star for Montreal.
Best of the Rest
The rest of Montreal’s top players are no slouches. Six through ten in the rankings begins with Samuel Montembeault and Kaiden Guhle. Montembeault has gone under the radar in goalie discussions around the league. However, he has quietly been elite for Montreal over the last several seasons. He did enough to earn himself a spot on Team Canada at the past Four Nations tournament. With a spot on the Olympic roster on the line, Montembeault looks to put the league on notice this season. Guhle has grown a reputation as an elite shutdown defender for the Habs. Some injury troubles have limited him in the past few years, but when healthy, Guhle is an important piece to the team’s top four.
Next up is another newly acquired player, sophomore forward Zachary Bolduc. He notched 19 goals and 36 points in only 72 games during his rookie year with the Blues. The Canadiens gave up prospect Logan Mailloux for the forward’s services and believe he can be a valuable piece to the team’s future forward core.
Rookie Sensation
At the number nine spot, we have rookie forward Ivan Demidov. He has only played a handful of games for Montreal, but it’s already clear he will be one of Montreal’s top players next season. Expect Demidov to play top-six minutes as well as get first-unit power-play time. Don’t be surprised to see him in the top five of this list as soon as next year. Finally, we round out the rankings with forward Patrik Laine. An injury in the preseason delayed Laine’s Canadiens debut until December. His elite shot changed Montreal’s power play, and the Finnish sniper scored in bunches at times last season. However, his inconsistency and lack of impact at five-on-five left much to be desired. It’s unclear what type of role we will see Laine play next season for Montreal.
Honorable Mentions
There are two Montreal Canadiens’ players who very well could have cracked this list but just missed for varying reasons. Those players are Kirby Dach and Mike Matheson. Dach was viewed as one of the core pieces to the Canadiens’ rebuild. However, major injuries have limited him early in his young career. In the small sample size we saw from him last season, he left much to be desired. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of product we see from Dach this season. As for Matheson, he was the team’s top defenceman only a year ago. However, with the emergence of Hutson and Guhle, as well as the Dobson addition, Matheson will be playing a lesser role. This past season, we saw a major dip in production from the veteran. With many new faces on the roster, Matheson doesn’t quite crack the rankings of top Montreal Canadiens’ players.
Main Photo: Eric Bolte- Imagn Images
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