Montreal Canadiens: Enemy’s Insight – A rejuvenated Carey Price
Seeing Carey Price play so well for the Montreal Canadiens as of late in combination with his milestone on Tuesday is a positive sign towards a rebound year.
Despite the losses, there have been some things to be happy for when it comes to the Montreal Canadiens. Paul Byron and Alex Galchenyuk have joined Brendan Gallagher in the milestone club as they’re hit impressive totals for the season (relatively speaking). Additionally, Kerby Rychel has been another young player in the organization to come up through the AHL and contribute immediately to the lineup. You also have to look lower in the organization to the Laval Rocket who are continuing to search for diamonds in the rough with new tryouts in Garret McFadden and Tye Felhaber.
This may be a little cryptic, but the state of the standings could bring a smile to your face if the Draft Lottery is something you’ve had circled on your calendars. Thanks to the Arizona Coyotes’ 4-1 victory over the Calgary Flames and Vancouver’s single point in their loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, the Montreal Canadiens sit 29th in the NHL. That grants the Habs an 11.5% chance at winning the lottery and a 33.9% chance to get a top three pick in the draft (just ran a simulation via Tankathon and the Habs won!).
However, at the top of many’s lists right now has to be the tribute to Carey Price and his possession of the top spot in the franchise for most games played as a goaltender. I’ve seen some discredit the accomplishment, but to have his name among some of the greats is spectacular. Especially when you have to consider all the negativity and critiques coming his way from those who thought the Habs did a poor job in taking him so high in the first place.
Perhaps the loudest & longest cheer at the Bell Centre this season.
— Douglas Gelevan (@DGelevan) April 3, 2018
Standing ovation for Carey Price following a video tribute (feat. Patrick Roy & Ken Dryden) for his milestone of franchise most of 557 GP in #Habs uniform pic.twitter.com/wxCalVFYP5
It only fits that Price would be one of the focus of Mike Stephen’s questions for this week’s Enemy’s Insight.
1) How did Kerby Rychel look in his debut with the Montreal Canadiens? Is there anything there?
You’d want to know, wouldn’t you? Anyway, Kerby Rychel’s debut with the Montreal Canadiens was something that fans were looking forward to for a little while considering his production in the AHL with the Laval Rocket. The magical day for him was Sunday night against the New Jersey Devils.
Rychel started out on the third line and was an energy option for the Habs as you would expect. However, it was much more than that. He along with Nikita Scherbak brought some decent pace to the team that night. In fact, Rychel had a nifty set up to Mike Reilly in the slot that also drew a penalty for the Montreal Canadiens as Devils goaltender Keith Kinkaid tripped him at the side of the net.
The best thing about the 23-year-old’s debut was that it didn’t look any different from his play in the minors. Rychel was pushing the pace and using his size to overwhelm players along the boards. However, he took another step forward in the right direction in his second game with the team against the Winnipeg Jets, which is saying something considering how effective they were despite sitting five of their best players.
He easily answered back to the Jets attempts at intimidation both physically and on the scoreboard. The 2013 first-round pick scored his first in a Habs uniform to tie the game at three in the perfect way. It was a very Rychel-esk goal if you’ve seen him play with the Laval Rocket and Toronto Marlies as he fought and maintained bodily position in front of the net and deflected Jeff Petry‘s shot.
Kerby Rychel redirects a Jeff Petry shot for his first goal in a Canadiens uniform! pic.twitter.com/2L1lDRhowd
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla) April 4, 2018
To answer the second part of your question, there is definitely something there. Rychel is an easy option to sign for another year or two just to see what he can do in a full NHL season. No one is saying that he can be a guy that goes right into your top-six, but he’s a player that can give you quality minutes regardless of where he pays and have an in-game impact in more ways than scoring.
2) Will Carey Price ever return to his production of old?
This has been a growing topic among Habs fans all season. It hasn’t sat well to see Carey Price struggle a year before his big-time extension that will have him making $10.5 million per year kicks in. However, something everyone, and not just those who follow the Montreal Canadiens, has to realize is that the 2017/18 season is the one-off to mark all one-offs. Checking Price’s stat page to notice that he’s in his thirties is concerning, but that has nothing to do with his season.
Statistically, the 30-year-old’s numbers are pretty bad. Price has a 16-25-7 record with a .901 save percentage and 3.09 goals-against-average. Assuming that holds up, and it most likely will seeing as there are only two games left in the season, those will set new career lows. To take away the first piece of evidence, regardless of his performance this year, Price is a career .918 goaltender. That already screams to a whole lot of things not working in his favour to knock him down to where he is now.
What are some of those things? Poor coverage, turnovers, and most importantly a lack of drive at times. The Montreal Canadiens are among teams in the top half of the league who give up the most high danger scoring chances when up or down a goal at even strength (102 and 118 respectively).
Obviously, it’s not all on the players in front of him as Price has had some off nights where the puck found a way to go in more often than not. However, even a goaltender of his calibre can get exposed if being subjected to so many chances. Price will return to his level of play, and the Habs need him to. If the Montreal Canadiens plan on having a turn around season, it starts with the status of their goaltending.
3) If the Montreal Canadiens don’t get John Tavares in free agency, do they keep Jonathan Drouin at centre?
See that’s interesting. I’m not sure if the Montreal Canadiens play Jonathan Drouin on John Tavares‘ wing if he does bless the team with an eight-year commitment. However, there are Marc Bergevin‘s controversial comments where he stated that in an ideal world the 23-year-old would play on the wing. At the same time, you can’t forget what Bergevin said at the team’s golf tournament last summer in that he would’ve made the trade for Drouin even if he was only to be made a winger.
Additionally, Drouin has made improvements playing in the middle of the ice. Claude Julien looks committed to the process of making him a serviceable centre in the NHL despite what other hockey minds believe. Would the Habs be willing to virtually throw this season of growth for Drouin away and put him back to where many thought he should be in the first place because Tavares is on the team? Ab-so-lute-ly!
Even if Drouin is moved to the wing, there is value in having that centre mentality on the wall. Combine that with the skill and vision already there, and the Habs have themselves an evolved star. Granted that’s IF Tavares signs in free agency.
If the Islanders superstar chooses to return to his team or some other team for that matter, Drouin will be in the middle of the ice to start the season next year. As I mentioned earlier, it looks like the Montreal Canadiens are committed to the process there and don’t necessarily have a good enough reason right now to abandon it.
Next: Reading Between Claude Julien's Message
Of all the exit meetings this season, Drouin will probably have one of the longest. There are a lot of things that he has to continue to improve on to better his performances on the ice. It’ll be the ol’ NHL summer routine for the Quebec native, but if he sticks to it, there’s no telling what he will do in the 2018/19 season.