NEWS: Montreal Canadiens Come out Victorious in Defeat

No, I'm not a fan of defeats, even in the rebuilding process. I believe it's important for the young players on the team to learn how to win, not just to lose.

This is even more true as we're in the third year of the rebuild. At some point, we want to see progress.

This year, even if the team results aren't there and the progress is minimal, if not nonexistent, there's a lot of positive to take away.

Nick Suzuki is heading towards his best season yet, possibly with 80 points or more. Cole Caufield has become a much better all-around player, capable of feeding his teammates and playing defensively. Juraj Slafkovsky is unrecognizable, and he'll be a real beast.


Add to that the emergence of Arber Xhekaj, the prowess of Samuel Montembeault and Cayden Primeau, and Martin St-Louis gaining experience, it becomes really interesting and encouraging.

Speaking of the coach, on Saturday, we learned the sad news that he had to indefinitely step away from the team for family reasons. The Canadiens lost, but it's not such a bad thing given the circumstances.

I don't like defeat, but let's be honest, there's clearly a high-potential forward missing at least in the organization, and a high draft pick could greatly help.

The Canadiens' direct rivals for the best possible draft pick all won Saturday night.


For now, the Canadiens are in 27th place in the entire NHL, but they could continue to slide and end up drafting in the top 5. Again, it's not ideal to wish for defeat, but on a night like Saturday, where other teams win, I see it as a positive.