The next team we will be looking at in the 2023 Fantasy Hockey Breakout Candidates series is the Montreal Canadiens. As a young team on the rise, they could have a number of breakout players and be an exciting team to watch. They are really unpredictable depending on what many of their young players do and if the team can stay healthy overall.
The Canadiens have created space, and thus opportunity for some players to come in and seize bigger roles and perform well. The Canadiens will definitely have some fantasy-relevant players. If some break out, there could be more than anticipated. Injuries definitely held this young and rebuilding team back last season, but there is a great chance that we will see some impressive seasons from this group. Let’s dive into three top candidates to have breakout seasons for the Canadiens and in fantasy hockey in 2023-24.
Montreal Canadiens Fantasy Hockey Breakouts for 2023-24
Kirby Dach
There are two spots where Kirby Dach can play next season, on the first-line right wing or at center on the second line. He is a talented young player who showed some impressive stuff last season. Unfortunately, he only got to play 58 games. He will without a doubt break out if he lines up on the top line for the majority of the season because he will get to work alongside Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, two already-established scorers on the team.
Dach played very well with the team’s top players last season and ended with 14 goals and 38 points. He’s a fairly physical player and has a large frame. He can deliver about a hit per game but needs to shoot a bit more. Even if he lines up on the second line, he’ll still get power-play time and some minutes on the top line. The team has more than enough centermen to start the season so it only makes sense for Dach to play where he performed the best last season. I have him at around 60 points if he can stay healthy.
Michael Matheson
Nobody thought too much of the Canadiens acquiring Michael Matheson from the Pittsburgh Penguins when they dealt Jeff Petry away for the first time, so many were in for a shock. Matheson started the season off great and solidified himself as the number-one defenseman in Montreal in a short time. In just 48 games, he scored eight goals (all even strength) and 34 points. He was and will continue to be the go-to defenseman on the team.
Matheson was the sole defenseman on the top power-play unit and was on the top penalty-killing unit as well. He logged close to 25 minutes a night, and with a young defensive group, he is one of the veteran leaders who can take pressure off of many with his work. Matheson could always score goals, but his best season came the year prior with 11 goals and 31 points in Pittsburgh until last season. With the points and amount he played in 2022-23 before his injury, there’s a lot expected of him heading into this season, and he can deliver.
Alex Newhook
The Colorado Avalanche didn’t have much patience with Alex Newhook after he was a part of the bottom six that did nothing for the team in the playoffs last season. He and J.T. Compher were supposed to be the two centermen in the running for the second-line center position, but Newhook just couldn’t seize the role. He stayed in a bottom-six role and scored 14 goals and 30 points in 82 games after 13 goals and 33 points in 71 games in his rookie season.
It is the classic sophomore slump that so many go through. Newhook is primed to have a bigger role in Montreal in year three. He could play center or the wing, but I see him slotting in on left wing for the majority of the season. He isn’t overly physical, but he can play the body. His fantasy relevance will come if he stays in the top-six and jumps up by 15+ points this season, which is completely doable. He is only 22 years old and will see more than 14 minutes a game this season.
Related: 2023 Fantasy Hockey Sleepers: Colorado Avalanche
There are a few players like Juraj Slafkovsky, Kaiden Guhle, and Arber Xhekaj who could very well have some fantasy hockey relevance this season and have themselves a bit of a breakout. Slafkovsky for one is projected to by ESPN, but take that with a grain of salt depending on where he plays. The Canadiens will be one of those teams who have a chance to produce multiple breakout players this season because of age and trajectory.
Make sure to check out all of the sleepers and breakouts of the 2023 fantasy hockey season!