The Montreal Canadiens are on pace to have three 80-point scorers in a single season, which hasn't happened since their Stanley Cup-winning season in 1992-93.
In Thursday night’s win over the Colorado Avalanche, Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki became the fastest Hab to reach 60 points since Pierre Turgeon reached the milestone in 54 games all the way back in 1995-96.
While Canadiens fans have been blessed with spectacular goaltending in the Carey Price era, they weren’t exactly spoiled in offensive talent. In fact, looking back over the last 17 years, there were seasons when nobody on the Canadiens’ roster even reached 60 points.
Suzuki has blossomed into a fantastic two-way center over the years, and it feels like he’s yet to hit his ceiling. With 62 points in 54 games, he’s on pace for a 94-point season. That would be a five-point improvement on the 89-point career year he had last season. The Canadiens have not had a 90-point scorer since the above-mentioned Turgeon and Vincent Damphousse both reached the milestone during the 1995-96 season.
If we go back to the start of the Price era, it’s actually incredible to see how little offensive production the Canadiens have had over the years. Starting in 2007-08, here are the Canadiens’ points leaders: Alex Kovalev (84), Kovalev (65), Tomas Plekanec (70), Plekanec (57), Max Pacioretty (65), Pacioretty (39 in shortened 48-game season), Pacioretty (60), Pacioretty (67), Pacioretty (64), Pacioretty (67), Brendan Gallagher (54), Max Domi (72), Tomas Tatar (61), Tyler Toffoli (44 in shortened 56-game season) and in 2021-22, Price’s last year, Suzuki lead the team in points for the first time with 61 points.
Since then, it’s been all about Suzuki with 66 points in 2022-23, 77 points in 2023-24, and 89 points in 2024-25. It looks like he’ll lead the pack again this year. He has a seven-point lead on Lane Hutson, who has 55 points and an eight-point lead on Cole Caufield, who has 54. Interestingly, Hutson is on pace for 84 points, and Caufield for 82. You have to go back all the way to the Canadiens’ Stanley Cup-winning 1992-93 season to find at least three 80-point scorers in a season on their roster. That year, Damphousse had 97 points, Kirk Muller 94, Brian Bellows 88 and Stephan Lebeau (80). They were close in 1995-96 when Turgeon had 96 points, Damphousse 94 and Mark Recchi had 78.
After 54 games, the Canadiens have scored 187 goals, more than any other team in the Eastern Conference and third in the league behind the Colorado Avalanche (203) and the Edmonton Oilers (190). When Kent Hughes was hired, he said he ideally wanted his version of the Canadiens to be a fast-paced, offence-minded team, and that’s precisely what he has built. Buckle up, Habs fans, the ride is just starting.
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