New Canadiens Connection: Playoff Ready?

As we get deeper into the stretch run of the season, the conversation around the Montreal Canadiens is starting to shift a little bit.

For a long time, this was a team that people were evaluating in terms of progress, development, and whether they were ahead of schedule. But now, with the standings tightening up and every game carrying more weight, the question is becoming a lot more direct. What is this team capable of right now?

When you start looking at it through a playoff lens, there are a few things that immediately stand out: the Canadiens didn’t make any moves at the trade deadline to reinforce the roster, which means this group is going to be asked to carry the load as is. At the same time, their style of play, which has worked well in stretches during the regular season, is going to be tested in a very different kind of environment where time and space disappear, mistakes get magnified, and consistency becomes everything.

Then you get into the lineup questions. If this team gets into the playoffs, how do they want to deploy their forwards? What do the defense pairings look like when the matchups get tighter and more physical? And how much flexibility do they really have to adjust if something isn’t working?

And on the back end, there are some individual performances that are becoming harder to ignore, particularly when you’re thinking about what playoff hockey demands from a defensive standpoint.

This Week’s Show

All of this is happening against the backdrop of a very tight race in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference, where there are multiple teams chasing the same handful of points. There isn’t much margin for error left. Let’s not mention the Canadiens lose just about every tie-break scenario.

When you take a step back and look at the full picture, it leads to a pretty straightforward question, but not necessarily a simple one to answer: Are the Canadiens built for the playoffs this year? This key question will form the basis of our discussion in this week’s episode of the Canadiens Connection podcast.

NEW PODCAST: Are the Montreal Canadiens Built for the Playoffs? | Canadiens Connection ep 392

We also discussed these important topics on this week’s episode of the podcast:

When will Kirby Dach return to the Canadiens lineup?
Laval Rocket clinch a Calder Cup playoff berth.
Alexander Zharovsky finishes his first KHL regular season in style.

CC Question of the Week: What’s the biggest adjustment the Canadiens need to make to succeed in the playoffs?

It is our eighth season, with a new episode of the podcast dropping every Saturday afternoon. Be sure to subscribe using your favorite podcast app! Or watch our episodes on YouTube!