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Montreal Canadiens: If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It

By Mat Germain

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Speculation about trades, sitting players, and calling up rookies is abound in Montreal after the team DARED to lose 1 game this season. In all honesty, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Look in the mirror and repeat after me: I did not expect that the Montreal Canadiens would begin the season 9-0-0 and am ecstatic that they have 9 wins in 10 games.

Doesn’t that feel better? Good. Now we can move on and examine why every arm-chair GM out there wants the Habs to deal a good portion of the team or call up players that are not ready for NHL play.

SPECULATION vs COMMON SENSE

There’s a difference between speculating about trades or future roster moves and what common sense will allow you do believe can happen. First, trades in today’s NHL are rare and hard to come complete since there are more moving part than ever. Contracts length and size, health, age, position, make up, there’s a lot to consider when dealing for anyone. Second, to make quick-twitch moves this early in the season is even harder since most teams are not usually as good – or as bad – as they first seem. That’s why for the most part, the dealing begins in late November and really gets going in the new year.

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Speculation is fun, don’t get me wrong. The Habs should trade x for y and everything will be alright. Well, other teams are not dumb. When you’re looking at an asset and you want to bring it in because it’s attractive, chances are the team that owns the asset really likes it as well. And when you really want to get rid of an asset, chances are other teams are reluctant to take that asset on. Unless, of course, they believe a change in scenery and approach with their team will increase the value of that player. That’s what makes a lot of the speculation put out there by fans so frustrating. It lacks common sense about the value of the items they’re shipping the other way.

The old  view of “you have to give up something to get something” is usually correct. Not always, but usually.

MONTREAL CANADIENS PLAYER VALUE

Sep 24, 2015; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens defenseman Jarred Tinordi (24) checks on Washington Capitals right wing Justin Williams (14) during the second period at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports

The players I’ve heard speculation about include Tom Gilbert, Jarred Tinordi, Greg Pateryn, Dustin Tokarski, and Alexander Semin. Well, if you take a look at all of these players, we’re looking at 3 guys who couldn’t crack the Canadiens lineup, one who is under-performing, and one who is consistently referred to as the weakest defenseman on the ice.

It’s not to say that these guys don’t hold any value, they more than likely hold quite a bit. The question is will you get a return that matches or exceeds each player’s value.

Would the Habs get a significant return for Jarred Tinordi when teams haven’t seen him play in 2015-16? How much are they willing to give for a defenseman like Gilbert who is going to hit their Cap with $2.8m? What return would they get for Pateryn after a decent playoffs last season but nothing to go on from this season? And finally, would the returns outweigh the value that these players provide in depth for the roster?

IT AIN’T BROKE

The Habs record is 9-1-0. There is nothing wrong with having a hiccup here or there. In fact, they often highlight things the team has to work through or adjust in order to become a better team before they get into the playoffs. Players have dry spells, and so being too quick and reacting too harshly can send them packing before they get a chance to work through their issues. And often, you wind up missing the player after he’s gone because the return wasn’t exactly what you expected.

Max Pacioretty, P.K. Subban, Tomas Plekanec, and Andrei Markov are all within the top 21 scorers in the NHL. The Habs PP unit, the plight of the 2014-15 season, is 10th in the league at 21.6% and the PK is 3rd at 88.6%. They’ve managed to remain in the top 5 for shots on goal and Carey Price has been his stellar self for the vast majority of the season so far.

So what is everyone trying to fix? Can’t we all just get along and enjoy the season a little longer before speculating about shipping players out? I admit to being guilty of looking at possible trade targets for this season, but I think I’ve been reasonable in expecting them to take place from the Christmas time-frame on. To make any major moves when a team’s doing this well just doesn’t make sense. It ain’t broke, so don’t fit it!

FACING OILERS AND FLAMES NEXT

Oct 27, 2015; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Montreal Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry (26) checks Vancouver Canucks forward Brandon Sutter (21) during the second period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports

West coast road trips always seem to be hard on the Habs. I don’t know if it’s the lure of the ocean and the mountains that get in the way of getting the job done, but they always look out of synch. The Habs are 38-40-4 all-time vs the Oilers, and an even worse 3-7-0 since 2010. Oddly enough, they are also 3-7-0 vs the Flames since 2010, but hold a better all-time record against them with a 63-42-15 record.

Look for Jeff Petry and Tom Gilbert to have outstanding games tonight as they return to Edmonton and look to make great impressions on their former team.

After the way the Habs played vs the Leafs and Canucks, I wouldn’t expect a stellar performance on either night, but hopefully the leadership will lead the way to another couple of wins. Brendan Gallagher had this to say about their loss:

"“I think this is maybe what we needed, We need to get better. We took a step back, but it doesn’t mean that we’ll have any trouble re-focusing and getting ready for the next one.”"

A great outlook on a tough loss, and hopefully it rubs off on the rest of the team.

Next: Canadiens' Alexander Semin, 5 Reasons to be Encouraged

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