Montreal Canadiens: Season Expectations for Tomas Plekanec

The Montreal Canadiens need Tomas Plekanec to keep up his strong defensive game to be successful in the 2017-2018 season.

Tomas Plekanec is the longest tenured player on the Montreal Canadiens following the departure of Andrei Markov.

After being drafted with the 71st selection in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, Plekanec claimed a permanent spot with the Habs in the 2005-2006 season.

Not only was the 2009-2010 season one of the best recent years for the Canadiens, it was also Plekanec’s most productive year. The Kladno, Czech Republic-native produced 70 points in 82 regular season games and 11 points in 19 playoff games.

Plekanec is on the final year of his two-year, 12 million dollar contract (via Capfriendly).

Review of Plekanec’s 2016-2017 Season

Now, at the tail-end of his NHL career, Plekanec is playing a defensive role with the relatively young Montreal forward group. The 34-year-old’s 28 points in 78 games last season is a product of his change of usage.

Something that stands out immediately is that Plekanec had 60.3% of his starts in the defensive zone, the second highest total of his career. Despite starting the majority of his shifts in the defensive zone, he broke even in both Relative Corsi For% and Relative Fenwick For%.

Using PuckIQ’s competition tool, Plekanec played the highest number of minutes against elite talent out of centers on the Habs (367 minutes). He owned the best Corsi Against relative to competition among his peers against elite talent.

Plekanec played a large role for the Montreal Canadiens’ special teams. He was one of the go-to penalty killers for the Habs last season, chipping in two shorthanded goals. Additionally, he spent time on the power play, scoring 7 points.

All in all, Plekanec was a reliable two-way center for the Canadiens last season. It would have been nice to see a higher point total. But again, it’s hard to be upset when his defensive impact was so great.

Expectations for the 2017-2018 Season

For the most part, expect Plekanec’s 5v5 usage to remain the same. Claude Julien may look to give more defensive responsibility to another center to ease the aging center’s work rate. One candidate is Phillip Danault, who has experience in a defensive role.

Plekanec’s 5v5 point total will see a rise. Last year, his 5v5 shooting percentage reached a career low of 4.59%. Also, players shot at 6.8% when on ice with Plekanec, the lowest rate of his career. If those totals go back to normal next season, there will a higher total of goals and assists for the Czech center.

The Montreal penalty kill will still feature Plekanec. Again, Julien may try to reduce his minutes to develop younger players, and to keep Plekanec fresh during the season.

Don’t expect Plekanec to be on the Canadiens’ top power play unit, but he should see some minutes with the second group.

If Plekanec plays a full 82 game season, here is what his stat-line could look like:

15 goals – 20 assists – 35 points

Next: Montreal Canadiens: Make the Trade for Matt Duchene

What are your expectations for Plekanec? Will he excel in that role? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Stats used are from Hockey-reference, naturalstattrick, hockey-viz, and PuckIQ.

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