3 Montreal Canadiens Who Will Regress In 2024-25

The Montreal Canadiens hope to be better this season, but it is still going to be difficult to take a jump into playoff contention in a strong division and conference. There are some new faces that should be on the team all season, and with good health, some other players will be pushed down the lineup and be less effective. That being said, these are three players on the Canadiens who are set to regress.

Joel Armia

Joel Armia didn't even play the entire 2023-24 season in the NHL, but ended up stepping up and scoring 17 goals and 25 points in 66 games. With all the injuries last season, he got his chance and ran with it. We can never expect as many injuries as Montreal suffered last season, so realistically Armia is going to be playing on the fourth line and he will not score at that rate again. That was a career high in goals and there was a reason he was in the AHL for a short time.

Brendan Gallagher

Like Armia, Brendan Gallagher will be kicked down the lineup as well. He isn't the offensive producer or same player he once was. With Cole Caufield, Patrik Laine, and Josh Anderson in front of Gallagher on the right side, there won't be much playing time or time in the offensive zone to even score 16 goals and 31 points in 77 games like he did in 2023-24.

Cayden Primeau

Cayden Primeau is a good young goalie, but was in a sheltered and limited role last season, starting just 21 games. He was part of a three-goalie system, but will definitely jump up to over 30 games in 2024-25. With a Canadiens team projected to be in the bottom half of the standings and with a young d-core, he will have a tough time putting up a .910 SV% again. As more of a backup, he will be starting games on the second half of back-to-backs and not getting the best matchups.