The Montreal Canadiens learned a lot from their Eastern Conference final loss to the Carolina Hurricanes last post-season.
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Canadiens → learn → Hurricanes
Twenty-two-year-old defenceman Lane Hutson is one of the Canadiens’ young stars and he said on Saturday that Montreal’s deep playoff run was an educational experience.
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run → say → Saturday
“We have so many great players and do so many great things,” said Hutson.
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Hutson → have → things
“Sometimes you could let that detail slip when you have talented players.
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you → let → players
(We need to be) detailed and dialled in on the little things that affect us later in the season and in the playoffs.”
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that → need → playoffs
Those details are typically in the defensive zone, such as stopping on pucks, having their stick in the right positions, and being able to box out opponents.
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details → stop → opponents
“Collectively, we need to spend less time in the defensive zone,” said head coach Martin St-Louis.
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Louis → need → zone
“We tried to find answers this summer to spend less time defending as a group.
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We → try → group
Sometimes it’s an individual mistake and someone’s fault, it happens.”
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it → ’ → ?
Hutson agreed with his head coach.
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Hutson → agree → coach
“They’re all little things,” said Hutson.
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Hutson → ’re → ?
“But they all add up and have a pretty big impact on the game.”
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they → add → game
One of the things Montreal did this summer to address some of those small details was bring in veteran NHL coach Derek Lalonde as an associate coach.
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Montreal → do → coach
The former head coach of the Detroit Red Wings also won a Stanley Cup on Jon Cooper’s Tampa Bay Lightning staff and was an assistant with the Toronto Maple Leafs last season.
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coach → win → Leafs
He will be tasked with helping assistant coach Stephane Robidas organize the defensive zone and penalty kill.
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Robidas → task → zone
“He’s easy to talk to,” Hutson said about Lalonde.
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Hutson → ’ → Lalonde
“Seeing him work alongside our staff, they fit really well and gel.
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they → see → staff
He has good ideas on the defensive side and obviously likes watching us play offence too.”
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us → have → offence
Chris Kreider, the newest member of the Canadiens, has also been given the prime opportunity on the team’s top line alongside Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield.
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Kreider → give → Suzuki
He will make his Montreal pre-season debut when the Habs host the Maple Leafs on Saturday at Bell Centre.
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Habs → make → Centre
He had only had two days of practice and a morning skate to learn the team’s system after signing on as a free agent on Thursday.
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He → have → Thursday
“I’m going to make mistakes, I think we probably all are,” Kreider said.
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Kreider → go → mistakes
“The biggest thing is doing it fast, having the courage to mess up at speed.
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thing → do → speed
(To) trust myself, making reads, and if I make the wrong read now is the time to do it and then learning from it, and building and making sure it doesn’t happen again.”
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it → trust → it
Putting Kreider on the top line allows Juraj Slafkovsky to play with Oliver Kapanen and Ivan Demidov.
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Slafkovsky → put → Kapanen
The trio found chemistry on the ice when they played together last season.
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they → find → ice
“We were pretty good together,” Slafkovsky said.
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Slafkovsky → say → ?
“We had some success, we scored some goals and helped the team but at the same time, we all got better and we all expect better from each other this year.”
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we → have → other
Slafkovsky is entering his fifth NHL season, but the Canadiens head coach feels that the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft has finished defining what he is as a player and what he will become.
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he → enter → player
“He has some things that he will show us, and we don’t know exactly what they are yet,” St-Louis said.
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Louis → have → us
“It’s fun to be curious and have him continue to push and see what he will be.
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he → ’ → ?
Like Slafkovsky, Hutson is also looking to improve, with his head coach noting he has the DNA that the best players have: the ability to always want to get better.
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players → look → that
“I’m not a finished product by any means,” Hutson said.
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Hutson → ’m → means
“I feel like I have so much room to grow and become a better defender.”
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I → feel → room
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2026.
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report → publish → Press
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