Arguably the biggest X-factor separating the Montreal Canadiens from a successful playoff finish to 2025-26 is their health. As has been well-documented, all alone the Habs have evolved substantially into officially a playoff team already, improving every season since finishing last in the standings in 2021-22.
Related: 5 Canadiens Keys to a Successful Playoff Finish 2025-26
After finishing first in man-games lost that last-place season and in 2022-23, things started to improve on the injury front in 2023-24. And, last season, with the sixth-fewest games missed to injury, they of course surprised most analysts by reaching the postseason for the first time since losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final.
As the youngest-projected team in the NHL, it’s only logical that they continue improving as each member of their core moves a year closer to their prime, assuming they stay healthy. However, what if you were to limit the term X-factor to people (players) only, i.e., as the term is traditionally used? Which Canadiens are the biggest X-factors, or relative unknowns with the capacity to hold the biggest sway over their fate? Here are the top five:
5. Zachary Bolduc
Just by virtue of the fact Zachary Bolduc is new to the team, with the Canadiens having acquired him for Logan Mailloux from the St. Louis Blues, his ceiling, at least as it pertains to where he plays in the lineup, is a huge question mark. For example, with the Blues, Bolduc impressively scored 19 goals as a rookie with just 12:48 per game of ice time (1:18 on the power play).
For context, that would place him just above Emil Heineman (11:23; 1:01 on the power play), the fourth-line winger some suggest Bolduc is intended to replace, after he got traded to the New York Islanders in as part of a deal for defenseman Noah Dobson days earlier. However, his 36 points would rank fifth among Canadiens forwards last year, albeit right alongside fourth-line centre Jake Evans, as the team’s second line (effectively in name only), which consisted of Patrik Laine, Alex Newhook and Kirby Dach, failed to generate much in the way of chemistry or actual offense.
Could Bolduc be part of the solution there instead? Who knows at this point? Bolduc’s physical style suggests he can fit in up and down the lineup. If it’s on Line 2, helping to give the Canadiens two working top-six units, the Habs could conceivably overwhelm opposing defenses on the…
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