Montreal Canadiens Young Players Making Veterans Expendable

The Montreal Canadiens head towards the trade deadline in a unique position. They will be buyers looking to improve the roster, but their young players have usurped many veterans in the lineup.

The Montreal Canadiens are running away with the Atlantic Division. They have a nine point cushion on second-place Boston Bruins and are just now starting to get healthy. With the trade deadline approaching in about six weeks, it’s clear the Habs will be a classic “buyer.”

Looking at their roster the Canadiens may be in a unique position when the trade deadline arrives. As a clear playoff team, of course they will be looking to improve their roster. However, with all the injuries they’ve been through, many of their young players have proven to not only be NHL ready, but they are better than many of the Canadiens veterans.

That means the Habs will be buyers who will also have a few players for sale. Typically a team in the Habs current position will be looking to offload young players to bring in quality veterans. Montreal will be buying for a playoff run and selling a few extraneous elder statesmen.

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With the rash of injuries the team was forced to deal with, younger players were pushed up the lineup, or called up from the St. John’s Ice Caps. Many of them proved to be more than capable of filling the role they were asked.

Phillip Danault had mostly been playing a third line or even fourth line left wing role. Once Alex Galchenyuk and David Desharnais went down, Danault was thrust into a top six center role.

Danault proved to be more than a fourth line winger

Danault played so well he hopped over Tomas Plekanec on the depth chart and was centering Max Pacioretty and Alex Radulov on the Habs top line. The 23 year old center scored 12 points in his last 15 games with Galchenyuk out of the lineup.

Danault was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks at last year’s trade deadline. With the Canadiens in the midst of a terrible season, veterans Tomas Fleischmann and Dale Weise went to contending Chicago for Danault and a second round pick.

There wasn’t much consideration that Danault could be more than a third line center. It was hoped he could develop into that role for the Canadiens. During the past six weeks, he has shown not only is he already a third line center, he could possibly be a second line center on a great team in the near future.

It would be wise for the Canadiens to find a role for Danault down the middle for the rest of the season. Even when the team is fully healthy, the Victoriaville native has cemented his position in the lineup.

Michael McCarron showed he is NHL ready

McCarron was called up in time to join the Canadiens as they faced the San Jose Sharks on December 16th. Since then, he has primarily played a fourth line role. Though it isn’t a glamorous position, he has proven to be an NHL ready player.

The 6’6″ center was taken with the 25th selection in the first round of the 2013 NHL Draft. He hasn’t lit up the scoreboard since turning pro last season after winning a Memorial Cup with the Oshawa Generals. However, he does many other things extremely well.

The 21 year old uses his gargantuan size to play a strong possession game. He can protect the puck as well as any Hab not named Radulov and wins just about every battle along the boards. He is able to get open in front of the opponent’s goal by battling for space. He was often criticized for a lack of speed after being drafted. However, after working on it for years, he doesn’t stand out as being slow in the NHL.

Again, none of these things are flashy, highlight reel plays. However, McCarron does so many little things exceptionally well, he should have an NHL roster spot locked up.

Artturi Lehkonen stepped up offence at right time

Lehkonen made the Canadiens out of training camp but didn’t do a lot to lock down a roster spot immediately. In his first 14 games he had just two goals and one assist for three points. The Finnish winger made the team due to his strong offensive game in the preseason, so these weren’t encouraging totals.

However, with the Habs needing him to step up due to injuries, and Lehkonen coming off an injury himself, he got hot. In his last 20 games, the 21 year old rookie has eight goals and 11 points. He has been promoted to a more prominent role on the power play and has taken advantage.

His recent goal scoring spree has him ranked fifth among all rookies this season. He’s just one behind the New York Rangers Jimmy Vesey and the Detroit Red Wings Anthony Mantha for third place.

Lehkonen was penciled in to be a top six winger right out of training camp. It’s time to get the chisel out and set that in stone.

Other players came up for short auditions but for various reasons won’t be in the lineup long term. Nikita Scherbak showed lot of skill but needs to polish his game before becoming a full-time Hab. Bobby Farnham, Chris Terry, Sven Andrighetto, Mark Barberio and Ryan Johnston played a handful of games each but none appear to be NHL regulars.

With Lehkonen locking up a roster spot and more importantly Danault and McCarron playing well at center, a pair of Habs veterans must be getting nervous. Plekanec will be on a second line tonight, while Danault is on the third line. However, it will be interesting to see who gets more ice time.

Bad news for veteran Habs centers

There is no doubt that Danault has outplayed Plekanec this season. With Galchenyuk back, that pushes the 33 year old center another notch down the depth chart. With the Habs rumoured to be interested in acquiring a center to play on the second line, Plekanec’s lengthy tenure with the Habs could be coming to an end.

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Even without the team fully healthy, I can’t find a spot for David Desharnais in this lineup. With Galchenyuk, Danault, Plekanec, McCarron and Torrey Mitchell down the middle there is no place at center.

On the left side there is Max Pacioretty on top. Lehkonen has locked up a scoring role on left wing, Paul Byron has been fantastic this season and 24 year old Daniel Carr has outperformed Desharnais and makes more sense to take the fourth line role.

The right side is very busy as well. Radulov, Brendan Gallagher and Andrew Shaw are the top three. It would seem McCarron or Mitchell will move to the right side on the fourth line and Brian Flynn makes a lot more sense as fourth line right winger than Desharnais.

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So, where does that leave Desharnais? And if a center is acquired to play second line center, where does Plekanec go? Well, the answer to both is on the trade block. The Canadiens will surely be looking to load up for a playoff run. They will also be looking to sell Plekanec and Desharnais thanks to the strong play from their young forwards.