Montreal Canadiens: Larry Carrière will be key to a successful AHL season

Although Larry Carrière is no long GM of the Laval Rocket, he still has an important role in the Montreal Canadiens organization.

The Montreal Canadiens made changes to the two most important spots in their AHL management group. Jöel Bouchard was brought in to be the second coach in team history while Larry Carrière was stripped of the mantle of general manager. Unlike Sylvain Lefebvre, Carrière is sticking around as he still has an important job to do.

Marc Bergevin announced that Carrière will be the Director of Player Personnel of the Laval Rocket tasked in charge of AHL and ECHL scouting. Keep in mind that despite the way the team played, one of the reasons behind their shortcomings were the players available. Laval lost players to injuries, but mostly due to call-ups.

Daniel Carr, Nicolas Deslauriers, and Byron Froese all started in the AHL this season. Injuries and acknowledgement of talent had them join the Montreal Canadiens for the rest of the season. The same goes for Nikita Scherbak, Michael McCarron, Noah Juulsen and Brett Lernout who spent time with both teams.

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The problem isn’t calling players up specifically. Organizations should be proud when young players they’ve invested in have shown enough to earn a shot in the NHL. What hurt the Laval Rocket was who they replaced them with. With all due respect to them, there’s a gap in talent between those that left and those who stayed.

Carr and Froese were leaders on the team both offensively and defensively. Juulsen quickly went from a 20-year-old rookie to a top-pair option tasked with playing in all situations. Not to mention the fact that another top player on the team in Peter Holland was traded for Adam Cracknell.

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The Montreal Canadiens need to make sure that there is talent continuously coming through the pipeline. This is where Carrière comes in. Even though the Habs are expecting some of their prospects to come in and take up spots in the roster, the search doesn’t stop there. There’s no such thing as having too much talent, especially in the AHL.

Fans should want to hope young players in the minor push the hand of management forcing them to get a look. T.J. Melancon, Morgan Adams-Moisan, and Phélix Martineau are the latest to receive AHL deals and it doesn’t seem to be the last.

Additionally, this strengthens the thread between the AHL and ECHL. It was a very one-way relationship as the Brampton Beast lost players this season and didn’t get many in return. Whether the Montreal Canadiens renew their affiliation with the Beast is still up in the air, but finding places for their players to play will include them.

There’s also the chance that a player displays incredible skills in the ECHL and is given a chance to show what he can do with Laval.

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This new focus on youth and development will only do good for the Montreal Canadiens moving forward. The most successful teams in the NHL never lose sight of this, and it’s about time they make it a priority.