Canadiens Should Consider Signing LW Fleischmann

For a player on a professional tryout, Tomas Fleischmann sure knows how to leave an impression on a team who could potentially sign him long-term.

Fleischmann scored the first goal of the night on a line with David Desharnais and Dale Weise during his pre-season debut with the Habs against the Washington Capitals. He also showed great on ice chemistry between himself and Desharnais, as he picked up an assist during the second period power play with Desharnais tying the game 3-3.

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The 31-year-old left-winger was invited to the training camp on September 12th, after spending last year’s season split between the Florida Panthers and the Anaheim Ducks. In 66 games, he had 8 goals and 19 assists along with 1 assist in six playoff games with the Ducks during the Western Conference finals. His most productive season, however, was during the 2011-12 season with the Panthers, where he scored 27 goals and 34 assists in 82 games.

While he did show great potential in his first game with the Habs, there are still a lot of questions about where he would fit in, the cost of signing him, who to trade, and if he’s a right decision for the Habs. In my opinion, I’ve only seen one pre-season game with “The Flash.” Could he help generate offense? Could he possibly be the key to bringing out the best in Desharnais? Let’s take a look.

If Bergevin wants to grab Fleischmann, the perfect time is now and for cheap. Yes, the Habs have a great number of young players that are close to coming up to the NHL. With that said, there’s also a lot of clogging on both the young guns’ side and Fleischmann’s side.

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The Habs already have 5 centres, 2 of which are capable of playing on the left-wing and 1 who can play the right. If you grab a kid like Michael McCarron or Charles Hudon, who have both shown potentials as centre, who do you move? We already know Alex Galchenyuk is playing centre this season, so do you move Torrey Mitchell to right-wing permanently for McCarron? If we also look at the current lines coming up this season, where would Hudon fit? Lars Eller is already on the left-wing and Galchenyuk doesn’t seem to be moving back to the left any time soon. Then, we have the case of where Fleischmann would be put.

If Therrien decides to keep Eller, Galchenyuk, and Alexander Semin together, then the lines for this season should look somewhat like this:

Pacioretty – Plekanec – Gallagher

Eller – Galchenyuk – Semin

Smith-Pelly – Desharnais – Kassian

De la Rose – Mitchell – Weise

Replacing a left-wing on the third or fourth line would be taking out Devante Smith-Pelly or Jacob De La Rose. This is a problem since Smith-Pelly adds depth while De La Rose is an up and coming Swede dream centre, and I personally doubt DLR will be sent down to the AHL when he’s already started to develop in the NHL. Overall, it’s a bottom 6 clog. However, there are some options.

Sadly, Michael Bournival is out indefinitely with post-concussion syndrome and the Habs will either put him on waivers or perhaps put him in a trade bundle. There’s also the case of Brian Flynn, along with Smith-Pelly and DLR, who seem to struggle to produce points on the 3rd and 4th line. This gives us a whole new point of view.

Sep 24, 2015; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens left wing Tomas Fleischmann (15) celebrates his goal against Washington Capitals with teammates during the first period at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports

If we look at individual analytics and predicted primary points, Fleischmann comes out as the better option when wanting a player to put points on the board. Despite his age, his impact on linemates has improved in the last five years via Own The Puck.

This means that if the Bergevin were to give up Bournival and Flynn or Flynn with Smith-Pelly or even Bournival, Flynn, and Smith-Pelly together before the trade deadline in February, this would give the Habs comfort room. De La Rose would still be able to develop in the NHL while Fleischmann could sit on the 3rd line with Desharnais.

While DD doesn’t give some Habs fans a warm, fuzzy feeling inside, the fact of the matter is that he can produce well offensively. During the break up between him and Pacioretty, Desharnais scored 4 times in 11 games during the switch to the third line compared to 2 in his previous 29 games. Without being put beside a top scorer like Pacioretty, he was forced to work harder and with that, his offensive game picked up quite a bit.

Just imagine Fleischmann and Diamond Dave on the third line with the same chemistry and offense they produced during last night’s game. Now imagine that throughout the entire year with Zack Kassian, who showed strength in battling along the boards as well as having good puck control during Tuesday’s game against the Leafs. Now that, ladies and gentlemen, sounds like a solid line in the making.

Let’s be honest, when you take a hard look at Fleischmann, he’s not a new, young NHL star who’s going to take you the Eastern Conference finals. However, he can still contribute a lot to the Montreal Canadiens and could be a solid 3rd line player. Also, quality depth is always a nice feature as well. I personally think the Habs should sign him at the right time which is now and drop off a few guys that the team won’t really benefit from in the long run. That, to me at least, will give the Habs a solid start to the season.

What are your thoughts on Tomas Fleischmann? Do you think he’s a right fit for the Habs or do you think they should stay away from signing him? Let us know in the comments below!

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