Montreal Canadiens Recall Sven Andrighetto Who Will Fill In Perfectly For Dale Weise
The Montreal Canadiens have called up Sven Andrighetto from the St. John’s Ice Caps of the American Hockey League. Andrighetto has split the season between the AHL and NHL with the Habs, and was last sent down on December 31.
The timing of his most recent demotion was unfortunate, as the former third round pick missed only one Habs contest during his short stint in the minors, but it was the outdoor Winter Classic against the Boston Bruins on New Year’s Day.
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The native of Zurich, Switzerland scored a goal in his lone game during his demotion, though the Ice Caps fell 3-2 to the Binghamton Senators. The goal brought the slick right wingers point total to 16 on seven goals and nine assists in 18 AHL games this season.
In his few stints with the big club, Andrighetto was able to find the back of the net with regularity, scoring four goals and adding an assist in 14 games with the Canadiens this season. He scored two goals and three points in 12 NHL games last season, during his first taste of NHL action.
What will be interesting to find out is what role will Andrighetto play during this stint in the NHL? He suited up alongside Alex Galchenyuk and Lars Eller for a few games when first brought up. The trio clicked right away which led to dominant stretches and a few goals, but Andrighetto ultimately slid down the lineup and was a healthy scratch for a few games before being sent back down.
His recall coincides with a Dale Weise injury at the Winter Classic, and though we have had no update on Weise since he left the outdoor game in the second period, Andrighetto being brought up suggests Weise will be out for a period of time.
Weise has played most of the season on the third line with David Desharnais and Tomas Fleischmann. If he is unable to play when the Habs take on the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night, I would love to see Andrighetto take his place on that line.
Weise’s line has played well in their role, dominating third pairing defenders and providing plenty of depth scoring for the Canadiens this season. Inserting Andrighetto into the exact same role Weise was playing would be perfect for the 22 year old who has a great shot and can hold his own in the offensive zone at the NHL level.
Weise has benefited greatly from playing in the third line role with Desharnais setting him up for chances and Fleischmann winning battles for pucks and creating space for the gritty winger. Weise, whose previous career high in goals was 10, has scored 11 times in 40 games this season.
With all due respect to Dale Weise, most of his goals have been a result of the hard work of Fleischmann and the excellent playmaking abilities of Desharnais, while also playing against weak competition. This isn’t supposed to be a shot at Weise who has played very well for Montreal ever since he was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks for Raphael Diaz.
However, it suggests if a skilled young winger with a great shot like Andrighetto is put in the same role, I would expect him to get as many scoring chances and score at least as frequently as Weise has this season. Playing against a team’s third and fourth lines and their third pairing of defenders while starting in the offensive zone frequently would be a perfect spot for Andrighetto who is talented, but undersized and not an excellent defensive winger at this point in his young professional career.
If Weise is unable to play as this call up suggests, I would like to see the top line of Tomas Plekanec between Max Pacioretty and Brendan Gallagher stay together. Also, though Andrighetto played well with Galchenyuk and Eller in the past, I would leave Daniel Carr there as he has been playing well in that role and finding the back of the net.
I would then put Andrighetto with Desharnais and Fleischmann while sending out a fourth line of Torrey Mitchell with Paul Byron and either Bryan Flynn or Devante Smith-Pelly. Weise was scoring at a 20 goal pace in that role, and Andrighetto is also scoring at a little more than a 20 goal pace this season with the Habs.
Next: Habs Dominate Bruins At Winter Classic
Putting the skilled Andrighetto in Weise’s role would allow him to continue scoring at least at the pace, and give the Montreal Canadiens three solid lines that can score.