Canadiens David Desharnais Playing His Best Hockey Ever

There are so many stories worth telling from this season’s Montreal Canadiens squad that it’s hard to pick a single player out. However, with David Desharnais putting up 6 points over the last 4 games and being on course to exceed his career best points total by 15 points, I thought he was worth a good look.

Most people know all about David Desharnais’ improbable rise to the NHL after being un-drafted and considered under-sized at 5’7″ 175 lbs. He’s overcome many odds to make it to where he is, and for that. we salute him.

The interesting thing about Desharnais is that he has done fairly well during all regular seasons since he became a regular in the league in 2011-12. He did enough to earn himself a spot on Michel Therrien’s second line and to be among the Habs leaders in points every year. His face off wins have improved yearly to a high of 52.9% last year, and he’s learned how to make the best of his size while becoming more physical as his career has worn on.

The knock on Desharnais has always been the playoff performances, but we’ll leave that out for now and focus on this season’s performances. Here’s his basic stats line so far:

15 GP / 4 G / 9 A / 13 PTS / +8 / 19% Sh% / 14:23 ATOI / 12 HITS / 7 BLKS / 1.3 OPS / 0.5 DPS / 1.8 PS

If I had put this up as what David Desharnais would accomplish within the first 15 games of the season and showed it to him, I think even he would be surprised and would take it in 1 second.

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The bulk of the improvement seems to be how well he’s meshing with his line mates,

Dale Weise

(8 goals) and

Tomas Fleischmann

(11 pts). They all seem to complement one another’s skills and are playing extremely well together. But is it all about Desharnais’ line mates, or has he altered his play as well?

There’s one thing I always begged Davis Desharnais to do more often and that’s shoot. I wrote an article (Shoot David Shoot) making the argument that if he shot more often, he may not necessarily score a ton more goals, but that his point totals would go up because of the chances and pressure it puts on the other team’s defensive players. So far this season, he’s on pace to total 118 shots which would be 20 more than his previous career high of 98. That season, ’11-’12, he had a career high 16 goals and 60 points. In short, getting shots to the net seems to be directly related to Desharnais’ effectiveness offensively speaking.

Nov 1, 2015; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens forward Tomas Fleischmann (15) celebrates with Dale Weise (22) after scoring a goal against Winnipeg Jets goalie

Michael Hutchinson

(34) during the first period at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

The increase of shots on net has been something that all Habs players are focused on this season and has seemingly helped their PP unit score more often. In particular, Dale Weise has significantly increased his shots on net, going from a previous career high of 91 to being on pace for 197 shots! Now that’s a boost in scoring opportunities, and one that has him leading the Habs in goals despite playing 6 minutes less per game than the guys on the first line. That brings me to my next point….

You would think that a diminished amount of time on the ice would lead to a diminished offensive output for Desharnais and his line mates, but the opposite is happening. For Desharnais, this season has seen him drop to his lowest ATOI, 14:23, since 2011-12 when he totalled 18:24. Despite playing a lot less than he’s used to, Desharnais has produced more than ever.

That begs the question as to whether he’s better able to use his speed by playing less than he used to? The answer I have for you is a simple yes, and it’s supported by this fact: the third line is better as the game wears on, being responsible for 3 of Desharnais’ points in the 1st period, 4 points in the second period, and 6 points in the third period. The more the game wears on, and the more Desharnais’ speed is able to give him an edge on others, the more effective he becomes. He’s able to turn the corner around defensemen, he can beat others to pucks, and he becomes a more aggressive player as a result.

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As a result of the “demotion” to the third line by Michel Therrien, the Habs have found a way to get Desharnais’ motor running at an above average rate all game long. They’re seeing his best hockey yet, something we all hope lasts for the remainder of the season. However, I’ve been hearing rumblings of making the third line the new second line in Montreal. I hope that’s just a rumour because I’m not so certain that more time on the ice is something that will benefit this line most. If anything, keeping all lines rotating at a fairly even rate seems to be bringing out the best of most players on the team, so I fail to see why a change would be made.

Most of you know that I can be fairly hard on Desharnais when he disappears altogether and starts playing a more passive style of hockey. I think it’s the main reason for his playoff woes and is hard to take when you know how truly talented a player is. Well, I’m admitting that he’s achieved much more than I ever thought he would and that he is now among my key players for the Habs this season. After all, if they’re going to improve on last year’s playoffs, they need this third line churning as they are now.

Enjoy the David Desharnais show folks. It’s a fun show to watch and encourages thoughts of a long playoff run this post-season.

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