Montreal's young core, lead by Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield are giving Canadiens fans a lot to cheer for this season but it might be a year too early for the their team to fight for a playoff berth.

Video Transcript

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Are the Montreal Canadiens, who are not that far off from a wildcard spot, are they going to make the playoffs? They're playing a lot better than a lot of people are giving them credit for.

SAM CHANG: I'm just going to say, no.

[LAUGHTER]

JULIAN MCKENZIE: No. Shut that down. I mean, they're playing-- I mean, a lot of people thought they'd be in the basement, but they look fun. A lot of young players are doing pretty well.

SAM CHANG: They look-- they look fun, but they're like, they're just above a 0.500 pace. Which like, yeah, I guess the NHL is a league where all you have to do is lose as many games as you win and you can probably make the playoffs. But eh, they're like-- they're behind Detroit right now. Do I think the Detroit Red Wings are going to make the Stanley Cup playoffs?

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Don't spoil that answer yet because Detroit will come up. Omar, will the Montreal Canadiens make the playoffs this year?

OMAR: No, I think this is-- and that's not a bad thing. I think if you're a [INAUDIBLE] fan, this is like the year that you wanted. You wanted to see like your young core, like, take a step. And like Suzuki and Caufield had just been filthy. Like, Suzuki tapping Tony DeAngelo after the goal was hilarious.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Oh my god.

[INTERPOSING VOICES]

OMAR: It was so funny. And so I think-- I don't think-- yeah, obviously, the playoffs would have been nice. But like, the same thing as last year-- same thing as last year and the year before. Like, the division they're in is tough. And I think what you wanted was just to see your young players take a step forward. And I think that's what you're going to get.

SAM CHANG: I want to say also Kirby Dach has been-- Kirby Dach has been--

OMAR: He's surprised me. He's surprised me.

SAM CHANG: He's almost on a point per game pace.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: That first line with him, Caufield, and Suzuki has been very good.

SAM CHANG: Yeah.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: 100%. Avry.

AVRY LEWIS-MCDOUGALL: Like most of us here, I will say, no, they miss the playoffs. I mean, they're getting a lot of great production from Suzuki, Caufield, Dach. But I think it'll come down to the last week of the season. They're going to miss out like, game 80 or game 81. It'll come down to like the-- they'll be in it until the last week.

Because as I mentioned, they're taking a step to go forward, but they're not going to be-- they'll be in it. They'll be, I think, like, a 91, 92-point team in which they're losing in the last week of the season, though. I think they're-- they're out there as a playoff team, but they are super close in my mind I feel.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Wow. 90, 92-point team for this roster that was dead--

AVRY LEWIS-MCDOUGALL: They'll be close. Yeah, I think--

JULIAN MCKENZIE: That was dead last year. That's quite a jump.

AVRY LEWIS-MCDOUGALL: Yeah.