Despite losing to the Edmonton Oilers last night, the Montreal Canadiens sit atop the Atlantic Division standings after their 2-1 win over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. It has been a remarkable start to the season as the Canadiens have a 6-3 record.
Atlantic Division Standings – October 23 pic.twitter.com/6Wu9DYRX2G
— NHL Rumors (@NHLrumorsX) October 23, 2025
The Canadiens are once again taking advantage of teams’ poor starts. However, Montreal didn’t get off to the best start last year. However, they clawed their way back up the standings and into the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the teams fell to them.
Is the rebuild finally over for the Montreal Canadiens?
So the Montreal Canadiens were a year ahead of schedule in reaching the Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, this year should be the year this young team reaches the playoffs. Nick Suzuki, Lane Hutson and Cole Caufield are a year older and wiser. The new extensions for Kaiden Guhle and Juraj Slafkovsky come into effect. Ivan Demidov will play a full season, along with the additions of Noah Dobson and Zachary Bolduc.
So the Canadiens are on track to prove their rebuild is over by making the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. What Executive Vice President Jeff Gorton and General Manager Kent Hughes have done is nothing short of remarkable. The fan base, not known for accepting losses, accepted the vision these men laid out, and the fruits of their labor are paying off.
There’s a reason fans, not just of the Montreal Canadiansbut fans of other teams love to see them play. It can be a little unsettling at times for head coach Martin St. Louis, but he makes sure the players follow the style he wants his team to have. This is partly why, like Frankie Corrado told Jay Onrait on SportsCenterthe team is seeing the success it is seeing early in this short season.
NHL Rumors: All options on the table for Mike Matheson and the Montreal Canadiens
Frankie Corrado: “Jay, I’m going to give you the number one reason, and then I’m going to give you a bonus reason. That’s kind of obvious, but let’s go with the number one reason. When I look at the Montreal Canadiens this year, they’ve managed to skate teams into the ground so often that they get strange rushes left, right and center. Like they have on all four lines, where they have guys who can stretch the game and have guys who cause the other team to chase the game, and that’s a problem for the opposition.
And for Montreal, they’re not the biggest team. They won’t run you out of the building, but they will try to skate you into the ground. And they’ve had a lot of success, leaving teams to chase them down the ice.
This is my bonus reason for you, Jay, that they are fast, but they have more skills than they have had in a long time. And suddenly, now calmly, Ivan Demidov has five points in seven games, and Zachary Bolduc, two new players in this team, Bolduc has four goals.
NHL Rumors: The best option for the Montreal Canadiens is to keep Mike Matheson
So it is a fast team. They skate you into the ground. It can feel like you’re chasing the game a lot when you play Montreal, and they can do that because they have more skills than they have in recent seasons.
The Montreal Canadiens are ready to make a run in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. While they won’t forget what got them here: drafting and development. Gorton and Hughes now have the tools in the toolbox to make an impact as they look to upgrade and improve their team at or even before the NHL Trade Deadline.
This Canadiens team will be a tough matchup because of the speed and skill. It’ll be hard to keep up with them, that’s for sure.
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