Coach Martin St. Louis: Habs pushing for a playoff spot this year

The sad sack Montreal Canadiens had a bit of a "dead cat bounce" last season when they finally, mercifully fired head coach Dominic Ducharme and replaced him with Hockey Hall of Famer Martin St. Louis. The Habs displayed a renewed, re-energized level of play under St. Louis... but... but there's no way they can sustain that in 2022-23 is there?

St. Louis is betting on it.

And so it defenseman Joel Edmundson. Both St. Louis and Edmundson made some pretty astounding comments to the media today, indicating that the team is ready to turn the page on their rebuild after just one failed season.

Check it out:

Whatever those guys are smokin', could you please send some this way? I'd pay good money to be that blissed out.

In all seriousness though, the Habs are nowhere NEAR competing for a playoff spot. Their best player is a 23 year old with little help on the wings, their #1 defenseman is arguably a #4 or #5 on most other NHL teams and their starting goaltender is Jake Allen... enough said. Now, don't get me wrong, I think the Habs can get back into prominence in a few years, but to think they can compete for a playoff spot this season is just insane. Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky are going to do great things in Le Bleu, Blanc et Rouge but I don't expect them to lead the team to a playoff time anytime soon despite what their coach and current roster may think.