FEATURE | Will Habs Fans Look Back And See A Disappointing Summer Or a Step Towards Allowing Montreal Canadiens Youth to Step Up?
ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA — The Habs enjoyed a very unexpected 25-point surge last season that saw the team finish 14th overall in the NHL, though they missed the playoffs by two points. It would appear that fans and players alike took notice and made the Habs relevant again.
After a successful NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, many Canadiens fans were feeling hopeful for what was to come this summer. Would Marc Bergevin land a big name unrestricted free agent? Would he fill the need for a top-pairing, left-handed defenceman? Would the general manager find an offensive upgrade to jump start a woeful power-play?
We are now more than two weeks into free agency, and while there is still plenty of time left to make a trade, the answer to all these questions thus far is a solid ‘no.’
The top UFA of the summer, Matt Duchene, made only two in person visits, one to the Canadiens and the other to the Predators, where he eventually signed. The impression that Montreal is a serious consideration for this UFA shows that the team may be on the right path. However, the issue is whether it’s time to pick up the pace to reach the goal of contender status, this in spite of the moves that Bergevin has already made to improve the team.
With public statements from both Carey Price and Shea Weber about their own personal performance windows beginning to close, maybe it’s time to speed things up. That applies especially if those two franchise cornerstones are remaining with the team in the long term.
Trading Andrew Shaw meant a loss of grit, secondary offence and leadership. This move may hurt in the short term, but it opens up cap space and a roster spot for the youth while his value was high. Another good trade, made within minutes of the Shaw deal, was acquiring a fourth round pick for depth forward Nicolas Deslauriers. The two trades reduced the glut of forwards while adding three picks (now totalling 12) to the Canadiens stockpile for the 2020 draft in Montreal.
Bergevin also signed Keith Kinkaid to backup Price. Adding the veteran, who played 41 games last season for the Devils, may be an upgrade on Antti Niemi. That being said, the solution for backup may have already been on hand in Charlie Lindgren. Despite his smaller size, Lindgren has better career numbers than Kinkaid does at the NHL level and is also signed for approximately one million dollars less.
Adding a veteran backup might be more beneficial in the short term, but this is a position on an NHL roster that is ideal for graduating promising prospects like Lindgren. The Habs may be stunting the progression of a prospect to fill a need if he isn’t traded, which in and of itself may be an issue, but if the plan is to become a contender immediately, it could be excused as being part of that plan. As of now, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
There has also been upgrades made to the Canadiens bottom six forward group. Based on Ryan Poehling’s explosive pro debut and his development camp this summer, it is clear he’s physically ready to play professionally. Perhaps he can add an influx of talent to the bottom six if he can earn a spot out of training camp. However, it would be unfair to expect Poehling to replace Shaw’s career year offensive output.
With depth and backup goaltending issues addressed early in July, the hope was that the team’s issues on defence would have been addressed by adding a puck-mover who can play a top pair role and help the power-play.
Instead, Bergevin added Ben Chiarot, a solid addition to the team who can play a stay-at-home style and kill penalties, while more offensive players like Jeff Petry focus on transition and offence. His contract may be slightly overpaid on his three-year term, but Chiarot’s physicality will be a welcomed addition on a left side that had none the season before. That being said, the need was for a proven puck mover who can eat up minutes and that role is still vacant.
It seems clear that Bergevin is hoping to improve goal differential by having a defence that will allow less goals as opposed to scoring more. Last season saw a major improvement in goal differential when they improved from a minus-52 in 2017-18 to a plus-10 in 2018-19. That is a gamble on the forward group to stay as productive as last season, but it also leaves, “Who will play with Weber?” as the seemingly perpetual question facing the team.
It does seem that Bergevin is relying on younger players such as Victor Mete, Artturi Lehkonen, and others to make improvements on their play from last season to fill larger roles. The general manager also seems to be banking on a prospect or two to be able to graduate to the NHL.
Yet, as mentioned above, when you have Price and Weber nearing their career twilight years, it may be time to cash in on one of the NHL’s top prospect pools and trailer load of draft picks at Bergevin’s disposal to bring in proven performers to fill a need. That is, if the plan is to take advantage of the star players you have on hand.
The Habs also need to address is their need for shooters to help on the power-play. Nick Suzuki will likely be given the opportunity to fill that need, though he might not be ready to play a top one role with power-play time. If Suzuki doesn’t graduate, is he hoping that Kirk Muller or Dominique Ducharme can somehow kick start the power-play with the same talent they had on hand last season? This is another need that Bergevin has been unable to fill.
Bergevin’s approach comes from his use of the two measures, youth and veterans, being applied in different situations. If he were to decide to simply go all in with youth or veterans the plan would be much more defined. Instead we see him using both, mostly so the veterans can serve as mentors and competition. It may keep the fans engaged and develop a general work ethic for the younger players, but it also extends the retool beyond this season.
Habs fans are hoping it can be done, yet the more proven method is adding talent to the lineup, be that through the draft or signing talented players such as Nikita Gusev. In just the last three drafts, the Canadiens amateur scouting department has had 15 top 90 picks of the 28 total picks. That has turned a once bare prospect cupboard into one of the best prospect pools in the NHL. It provides a hopeful future for the team, but it is unrealistic that all of them will graduate to the Canadiens’ lineup.
Coupled with the cap space, this wealth of prospects provides Bergevin with excellent trade pieces that he can use to add players to contribute to the team’s successes now and in seasons to come. This allows younger players the time to develop without the pressure of stepping into NHL roles for which they may not be ready.
Bergevin has rebuilt the team’s center depth with several promising prospects, some of whom have already graduated to the NHL. He’s also finally rebuilt the prospect pool by adding multiple quality picks and allowing Trevor Timmins to follow his draft plan by selecting quality players. It appears he is repeating his yearly formula of improving the bottom six depth while leaving other needs unfulfilled.
The question remains as to whether or not Bergevin feels that his retooling of the roster can be done now so as to make the team Cup contenders before Price ends his career, even if that is years away. One this is for certain. If Bergevin does nothing more this off-season, there will be tough questions to be answered in September from media and fans alike.
By Blain Potvin, Staff Writer. Edited by Cate Racher.
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