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Montreal Canadiens: Ales Hemsky is Gone

By Omar L

MONTREAL, QC - SEPTEMBER 20: Montreal Canadiens right wing Ales Hemsky (83) and Washington Capitals right wing Brett Connolly (10) skating together during the Washington Capitals versus the Montreal Canadiens preseason game on September 20, 2017, at Bell Centre in Montreal, QC. (Photo by David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - SEPTEMBER 20: Montreal Canadiens right wing Ales Hemsky (83) and Washington Capitals right wing Brett Connolly (10) skating together during the Washington Capitals versus the Montreal Canadiens preseason game on September 20, 2017, at Bell Centre in Montreal, QC. (Photo by David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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There is nothing left to see from Ales Hemsky on the Montreal Canadiens. Mark Streit didn’t work, and he isn’t working either.

Enough is enough. Marc Bergevin had a few signings that most would consider to be, “low risk, high reward”. It’s easy to think that some of these players would help the Montreal Canadiens succeed this season based on their track record.

So what do Habs fans have from these signings after six games? First off, Mark Streit played his way out of the lineup. The 39-year-old only played two regular season games and played poorly in both of them. That led him to the trade block, waivers, and an eventual contract termination.

Joseph Morrow made the team out of camp as an extra defenceman. Constant turnovers in the preseason made it hard for Claude Julien to trust him enough in a game. After Jordie Benn‘s struggles, the 24-year-old got his chance to stay in the lineup. Morrow wasn’t as bad as before, but it still wasn’t good.

Related Story: The Blemish on the Blueline

Then there’s Ales Hemsky. It may be time for him to be removed from the team permanently.

Moving On

Hemsky has played in five of the Montreal Canadiens’ six games. He has no points, is a -1, and has managed to accumulate 10 penalty minutes. If you thought Hemsky had a chance to lead the team in any category, PIMs wouldn’t be anyone’s first guess.

He’s been a support type of player for the most recent portion of his career. Assists and possession have been the biggest aspect of his style. However, we haven’t seen any of that on the Habs so far. Playing him on the power play in the first couple of games made sense, especially after the play he made with Jonathan Drouin and Max Pacioretty in the Capitals preseason game. There just isn’t any reason to have him on the team now.

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The 34-year-old hasn’t looked engaged and has done enough to help the team. No one expected him to be a dynamic presence on the Montreal Canadiens. Those roles are set aside for some of the other players (and we’ll get into them at another time).

With the Montreal Canadiens in the midst of a five game losing streak, Julien needs to start making subtractions. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Jacob de La Rose in for the game against the Los Angeles Kings leaving Hemsky to sit out.

It’s only a $1 million cap hit, so if it is waivers, it won’t count against the cap to send Hemsky down. Or it could come down to another mutual contract termination. Whether the team decides to make a Streit type of decision for Hemsky may not be known until the end of the road trip. That being said, it’ll be interesting to see how much longer he remains with the team. In my opinion, it should happen soon.

Next: Available Players to Use in a Trade

Do you think Hemsky should be taken out of the lineup for good? Let us know your thoughts down below.

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