Montreal Canadiens Roster – Who Stays, Who Goes?

**Over the next few days, I will examine the Montreal Canadiens roster and see who are likely to return and who may be playing their final games with the bleu,blanc et rouge. In this edition, I will examine the Centers on the roster.**

As the 2015-16 season comes to an end, the Montreal Canadiens have 16 games remaining on what has turned into quite the disappointing season. The team currently sits 13th in the Eastern Conference and are actually closer to a potential top 5 draft pick(5 points ahead of Arizona) than they are for the final Wild Card Spot(8 points behind Pittsburgh).

With the remaining 16 games, Canadiens General Manager Marc Bergevin will be scouting each game to see who fits with his 2016-17 vision.

This year, the Habs have seen 39 players suit up for at least 1 game. Of those 39 players, seven no longer play within the organization due to trades.

Among the forward ranks, Montreal will have a lot of position battles going into next year.

Center – Remaining Term & Cap Hit*

Tomas Plekanec – 2 years @ $6 million

Alex Galchenyuk – 1 year @ $2.8 million

David Desharnais – 1 year @ $3.5 million

Lars Eller** – 2 years @ 3.5 million

Torrey Mitchell – 2 years @ 1.2 million

Brian Flynn – 1 year @ 0.950 million

Phillip Danault – RFA

Michael McCarron*** – 2 years @ 0.863 million

*All Cap figures and contract terms courtesy of General Fanager

**I’ve included Eller as a Center because that is where he has proven most effective over his career and should slot back there next season

***Same as Eller, McCarron projects as a Center going forward and has spent his first AHL season at Center

Top 6 Centers

Plekanec, Galchenyuk and Desharnais are the only players on the roster capable of shouldering Top 6 minutes at Center for the Canadiens.

Plekanec signed a new 2 year extension prior to the Habs collapse this year but has remained his consistent self. He’s been miscast for most of his career as a top line center and that has continued for much of this year as well. With his NMC expiring July 1st and the rumored interest in him going into the trade deadline, it would not surprise me if he is traded at the draft or early in free agency, though his $6 million salary and cap hit may scare off potential suitors. If Plekanec stays, he should slot into his more natural role on the 2nd line. Likely Stays

Galchenyuk has seen an up-and-down season in the the first season of his 2 year bridge deal. Saying that, it is not entirely his fault as coach Michel Therrien has failed to give him consistent linemates outside of Lars Eller, who has proven ineffective as a top 6 wing. Despite the inconsistency in ice time and linemates, Chucky has delivered and during Montreal’s dreadful spell in December and January, he often looked to be the only dangerous player on the roster.

The advanced metrics all agree that Galchenyuk is best suited at Center and has been Montreal’s most dangerous offensive center this year as evidenced by his 2nd straight 20 goal year and is just 5 points away from tying his career high from last season. Outside of the silly rumor that Steve Yzerman asked for Galchenyuk when Montreal asked about Drouin, their has been zero indication that Montreal wants to move the former 3rd overall pick. Next year should be the year that Galchenyuk takes hold of the #1 center position. Virtual Lock to Return

It’s hard to believe David Desharnais holds such a polarizing status among Habs fans. A portion love the diminutive center because he has beaten all odds to be in the NHL while others absolutely hate him due to inconsistency and over-reliance on Captain Max Pacioretty for production. Both sides can make compelling arguments but the stats do not lie. David Desharnais has an extremely hard time when not paired with Pacioretty. Despite positing similar Corsi numbers as he did the previous 2 seasons(51.2), Desharnais’ first prolonged absence from Pacioretty has seen his Point Share plummet to a career low(2.2).

However, Desharnais is not without his strengths. He is a skilled playmaker who can make things happen offensively if given space. That was proven early this year when teams didn’t focus on his line and he posted 17 points in his first 22 games. Since then though, he has only 9 points in his past 35 games, including a stretch where h was reunited with Pacioretty. With only a year remaining and at a modest cap hit, Desharnais could easily be moved and I envision him donning a new logo next season. Likely Traded

Bottom 6

Lars Eller’s potential has yet to be tapped into despite almost being 27 years old. The time has come to realize that Eller is who he is: a 30 point, bottom 6 forward who is a great penalty killer. He just hasn’t been able to build off his great 2012-13 season. Going forward, Eller has a slightly high cap hit for his skill set but his actual salary tops $9 million over the next 2 seasons, which may be a major deterrent for a potential trade. I do see a lot of teams being interested in Eller because if he ever does figure it out, he’ll be a really good 2nd line forward but due to his lack of production and high salary, Montreal may need to bring back a bad contract in return which seems unlikely. Likely Stays

Torrey Mitchell and Brian Flynn are essentially the same player. Both are 4th line grinders capable of playing all 3 forward spots, have minimal offensive upside and are solid penalty killers. Both are also signed to cheap contracts and represent Marc Bergevin’s love affair with cheap depth players. Their 4th line spots are theirs to lose at this point but the addition of players like Philip Danault and the emergence of players like Mike McCarron make their spots far from secure. One(or both) will be traded

Phillip Danault was a recent trade acquisition and you can read more about him Here. He profiles similarly to Mitchell and Flynn but comes with a bit more size. Danault will never be a scoring forward and could end up like a Lars Eller but he still has work to do and is purely depth at this point. Depth/possible non-tender

Michael McCarron is everything every Habs fan has dreamed of for decades. He’s huge(6’5″, 231 lbs), he’s right-handed and, oh yeah, he’s a Center. Montreal’s 1st round pick from 2013 has seen his value and development trend upwards over the past 2 seasons after a very disappointing 1st year in the OHL. McCarron opened the year on a point-per-game pace in St. John’s before receiving a brief 2 game call up in December where he looked lost and out of place.

Upon returning to St. John’s, McCarron’s point production slowed but that is not a testament of his skill but more likely due to Montreal’s over-reliance of AHL forwards and constant roster shuffling this season. All told, it’s been a solid debut for the big man and he is most certainly in Bergevin’s plans going forward, whether that be as trade bait for a top end scorer or as one of the team’s 4 Centers. Possible Trade Bait/1st Call Up/3rd or 4th Line C