November 25, 2025 | 11:35am ET
By DAvid Calabretta, TheFourthPeriod.com
HABS TEST WATERS AFTER HITTING A SPEED BUMP
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Jakub Dobes, goaltender
MONTREAL, QC — The 2025-26 NHL regular-season couldn’t have started any perfectly for the Montreal Canadiens, opening the campaign with a 9-3-0 record, with many players poised for breakout years. However, as some start to blossom, others quickly fell as several Habs fell to the injury bug.
Notables such as Alex Newhook, Kirby Dach, Patrik Laine and Kaiden Guhle were the first of the fallout, and on top of goaltending woes, Montreal has been actively working to quickly avoid a larger slip down the standings.
Death, Taxes and Injuries
During the tenure of Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton, the Habs have been struck with their fair share of hits in the injury department. This season is no different, as Montreal got pummelled just a quarter into the season, losing several players long-term.
About five games into the season, Laine suffered an oblique injury that will keep him out of action for 3-4 months. A blow for the Finnish forward as he was eager to get off to a good start in his contract year. Next domino to fall was 23-year-old Guhle, who faced a setback during recovery from his injury, and is now out 6-8 weeks. Another example of someone who can’t catch a break is Dach, who suffered a broken foot and will be out 4-6 weeks. He was trying to find his game, scoring three goals in three games before the injury, and head coach Martin St. Louis made sure to let him know that they are there for him.
“I told him 2026 will be his year,” St. Louis said. “It’s easier said than done, but you must stay positive. He will miss some time; it shouldn’t be too much time.”
Dach, 24, has been victim to many injuries throughout his young career, so far, with this being his third major injury in four years with Montreal.
Finally, the last of the spread went to Newhook, who suffered a broken ankle in the game versus the Dallas Stars. The 24-year-old was having a career great start to his campaign, with 12 points in 17 games, really finding his footing with rookies Ivan Demidov and Oliver Kapanen.
Opportunity Arises
With the many injuries, opportunities have risen internally and externally, as the Canadiens granted two debuts over the last couple of weekends, with both Jared Davidson and Florian Xhekaj making their NHL debuts on different Saturday’s; one versus Boston, and the other last Saturday versus the Toronto Maple Leafs.
For Florian, it was a dream come true, getting to play with his brother Arber, for the first time wearing the Bleu, Blanc et Rouge. Xhekaj No.2 made some noise in his debut, recording his first NHL point, and of course, getting into a fight with Leafs’ Dakota Mermis in 9:48 of ice time.
“That was awesome,” he said. “It was an unbelievable first game. I don’t think I could ask for a better first one. They (his teammates) were pretty fired up. I was fired up. It’s good to see that they liked it. It kind of fired up our bench; fired up our crowd. I had so much adrenaline.”
Montreal will be hoping that there will be an emergence of energy with Florian, and they got a glimpse of that in his first NHL game.
Bonjour Texier
Montreal has been searching for help, and while they were planning on finding solutions internally, the injuries kept piling up and there next ahl callup could’ve possibly been veteran Alex Belizile. Instead, management resorted to external help, signing 26-year-old forward Alex Texier, who became a free agent after clearing unconditional waivers and having his contract terminated by the St. Louis Blues.
Montreal hopes to unlock the untapped offensive potential of the France native, as well as adding some depth and trying to fill the roles of important players who are missing. It was reported that Texier refused a more lucrative offer to come to La Belle Province, calling it a “no brainer,” eager for a fresh start and to find a permanent home.
“No matter what, you’ve always got something to prove,” Texier told The Gazette. “I’ll have something to prove now, even if everything goes well. We have to prove again and again. That’s part of the NHL.
“After (my contract was terminated) I talked to a couple of teams. Montreal was one of them. It was my first option. They’re a young team that plays fast. It was the excitement I got from this. I’ve just got to wait for my chance. I’ll be ready. I’m feeling good, fresh. My legs are good. I know they play hard.”
Trouble in Net?
Rule NO.1 in hockey is to never blame the goalies, however eyes don’t deceive, and that was the root of Montreal’s fall over this last stretch of games.
It seems like there is a lack of confidence in net, with neither goalie able to start consecutive games, giving St. Louis no choice to flip flop between Jakub Dobes and Sam Montembeault, who have been saving sub .900 for several games now.
St. Louis, however, didn’t knock down his tandem, blaming the collective group instead singling out his netminders while also acknowledging the troubles between the pipes:
“Can our goalies play better? Yes, and they’d be the first ones to tell you that,” he told The Canadian Press. “But we’re going to keep going. You want me to say I want more saves? Everyone wants more saves. Of course, the goalies can play better, but I won’t blame it all on the goalies.
While the head coach remains calm, it’s a situation to monitor in the front office, with the Canadiens being brought up by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman as it related to Buffalo Sabres netminder Ukko-Pekka Lukkonen, who will entertain a change of scenery if he keeps sitting out. While Montreal believes the solution is within the room, their aggressive management won’t sit around and wait forever for saves to be made.
My two cents: Always ride the hot goalie, and that should’ve been done when Dobes was named Rookie of the Month.
Packed Bell Centre
The Canadiens’ press box is filled with the many media, myself including, however it has grown even more with the numerous scouts and GMs taking in the activity and attending games, some even visiting the AHL’s Laval Rocket, Montreal’s farm team.
This is no coincidence. Montreal has made it clear they are open further improve their club, specifically the top-six. Scouts and management figures who have been watching recently come from the Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues, who spent their weekend in Montreal, in attendance for the NHL and AHL team. Notable names that have been out there for both teams include Jonathan Marcheshault, Steven Stamkos for Nashville, and Brayden Schenn, Jordan Kyrou and Justin Faulk for the Blues. All this to say, the Habs won’t sit still and are always among the more active teams keeping tabs on the trade front.
Regression in young teams is normal, but with this aggressive management and culture that Hughes and Gorton are building here in Montreal, they won’t let things sink without putting a fight in getting the right pieces for now and the future.