Montreal Canadiens Are Younger, But Are They Better Than Last Season?
The Montreal Canadiens 2014-15 season finally kicks off tonight, as the Habs head to Toronto to take on the Maple Leafs in the season opener. Expectations are extremely high this year for a team that made it to the Eastern Conference Final, before losing their goaltender, and the series to the New York Rangers.
Though the key players remain the same for the Habs, the roster looks a lot different than it did when their season came to an end at Madison Square Garden in May.
Carey Price remains the starting goaltender, P.K. Subban is the number one defenceman, and Max Pacioretty will surely lead the team in goals once again.
Out are veterans Brian Gionta (35), Daniel Briere (36), Josh Gorges (30), Douglas Murray (34), Francis Bouillon (38), Ryan White (26), George Parros (34) and Peter Budaj (32).
Sep 28, 2014; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens forward Jiri Sekac (26) checks a Washington Capitals player during the first period at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
In their place are newcomers P.A. Parenteau (31), Jiri Sekac (22), Manny Malhotra (34), Tom Gilbert (31) and Dustin Tokarski (25), Nathan Beaulieu (21) and Jarred Tinordi (22) will be full time members of the team this season.
The Habs are much younger, but the question remains if they will be any better than last season. Parenteau and Sekac appear to be able to replace the lost offence that Gionta and Briere supplied last year, and should be able to surpass the 65 points that Gionta and Briere combined to score a year ago.
Malhotra gives the Habs one of the best faceoff men in the league, and a viable fourth line and penalty kill option that can easily replace the role vacated by White. Gilbert brings a much different style than Gorges, but his right shot and passing abilities are two things the Canadiens desperately needed. This allows Alexei Emelin to move back to his natural left side, and balances out the defence pairings for the upcoming season.
Along with Gilbert, Beaulieu will bring a second wave to the back end of the power play that was sorely missing last season. The days of Bouillon and Emelin getting power play time are gone, which will help the Habs improve on their 19th ranked power play from last season.
Jarred Tinordi brings a physical presence that Murray had, but is an infinitely better skater and at 22 years old is just starting to emerge as an everyday NHL player. It may take some time for him to develop into his role, but he can be an effective shutdown defender and penalty kill specialist by the end of the season.
Tokarski stormed onto the scene when Carey Price was injured in game one of the ECF, and played extremely well in the series against the Rangers. He usurped Peter Budaj in the process, and the veteran backup was dealt to the Winnipeg Jets to make room for Tokarski to take over the number two role full time this season.
With Price, Pacioretty and Subban, the key pieces at each position are still in place for the Montreal Canadiens. Having those leaders in place give the Habs great fixtures to build their team around. The supporting cast of Parenteau, Sekac, Malhotra, Beaulieu, Tinordi and Gilbert looks to be a big improvement on Gionta, Briere, White, Gorges, Bouillon and Murray.
Add to that a year of development and maturity from Alex Galchenyuk, Brendan Gallagher and Lars Eller who should all improve on their 2013-14 season and the Canadiens roster starts to look very impressive.
It is a much younger team than we saw a year ago, but more importantly it looks like a better team as well. Expectations are sky high for this Habs team, and it promises to be a fantastic season to be a fan of the Montreal Canadiens.
And it all begins tonight. Enjoy it Habs fans, we haven’t seen a roster this deep and talented in Montreal in a very long time.