Montreal Canadiens: Jakub Jerabek remains on the outside
By Omar L
Jakub Jerabek has been out of the Montreal Canadiens lineup for two games, and it looks to be a third as the lines and pairings at practice remain unchanged.
The Montreal Canadiens roster carousel seems to have taken a halt. Jordie Benn and David Schlemko took their turns missing the St. Louis and Carolina games respectively, but the Habs lost them. Jakub Jerabek was given his seat on the ride and Montreal have won both games since. It’s a tough but not really tough because a coach is pretty reluctant to want to mess with a winning lineup, and by that, I mean a lineup that is winning games.
It’s not a surprise to see the lines at practice this morning with Jerabek slotted as an extra defenceman. The same goes for Daniel Carr who has missed the same number of games and was taking turns with Nikita Scherbak on the Jonathan Drouin line.
Jerabek has been a good option for Montreal since being called up in November from the AHL. He’s been trusted to play on the Habs’ special teams and key situations but has lately been the victim of some periods filled with turnovers and poor decision-making.
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You could make a case for the other blueliners on the team doing the same thing, but it looks like Julien has his guys that he needs to have playing every night.
At the same time, Jerabek is still a developing player even though he’s 26. He’s adjusted well to the North American style of play for the most part and has the tools to be an effective option for the Habs down the road. That’ll depend on whether management can get him signed in the summer but that will probably be one of their goals.
Improvement can only be seen in games, but for now, Jerabek will have to wait until Julien chooses to make another switch.
Do you agree with the choice to bench Jerabek? What about Carr? Let us know down below.