The Montreal Canadiens will open their season with heightened expectations Tuesday night when they visit their longtime rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The teams skated in different directions last season, with the Canadiens’ rebuilding efforts paying off with a visit to the Eastern Conference final.
While the Canadiens intend to build on that success, the Maple Leafs will try to find their way back to the playoffs after finishing last in the Atlantic Division to miss the postseason for the first time since 2016.
Sixth-year Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis, who led Montreal to the playoffs each of the past two seasons, signed a contract extension in September that carries through the 2029-30 season.
“It feels really good to be where we are today and the depth that we have, hard decisions,” St. Louis said after the Canadiens completed a 4-1-0 preseason. “It’s a good place to be. I think everybody in every department’s doing their job and they’re doing their job well. How we draft, how we develop. It’s fun to see where we are and I think this group is very hungry to keep moving forward.
“Was it like this two or three years ago? I think we played eight (preseason games), I don’t think we won one. It feels good to win. But I just like the process.”
The Canadiens will be led by captain Nick Suzuki, who comes off a career-best 101 points (29 goals, 72 assists). Cole Caufield racked up 51 goals last year, second in the league. They’re supported by defenseman Lane Hutson (78 points) and goaltender Jakub Dobes, who was a revelation as a rookie last season.
Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs have undergone massive renovations as they continue to pursue their first Stanley Cup since 1967.
Jim Hiller was hired as coach after Craig Berube was fired by new general manager John Chayka and his senior executive adviser, Mats Sundin.
On Monday, Chayka took another step toward improving the Leafs’ immediate outlook by completing a blockbuster deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets that netted high-scoring forward Kirill Marchenko along with forward Miles Wood and goaltender Elvis Merzlikins.
Earlier in their offseason, the Maple Leafs won the draft lottery and took Gavin McKenna first overall. They added Sergei Bobrovsky, who has two Stanley Cups and two Vezina Trophies on his resume. And captain Auston Matthews is returning from knee surgery; he had 53 points (27 goals, 26 assists) in 60 games last season before the injury in March.
“The expectations for myself are always high,” Matthews said. “I try to hold myself to an extremely high standard. It was a frustrating year last year, of course, but it’s a new season, a lot of time to think about it, and going into this year I’m feeling as good as possible. A new group of guys, a lot of new people and new change which is inevitable, but I think it’s also exciting to come to the rink and have that energy and that excitement again.”
Matthews, who was the No. 1 selection by Toronto 10 years before McKenna, has been impressed with his new teammate.
“You can see the flashes,” Matthews said. “Every time he’s out there and he has the puck, he makes something happen, so it’s obviously a really exciting time for him to soak everything in and enjoy. It’s really important.”
The Canadiens defeated the Maple Leafs in their pair of split-squad preseason games on Sept. 19 — 4-3 at Montreal in overtime and 4-1 in Toronto. The Maple Leafs were 2-1-1 in preseason.
