The Montreal Canadiens power play will see some changes from its layout in the 2017-18 season and with it, could come a new point leader.
When the Montreal Canadiens made the trade to acquire Jonathan Drouin from the Tampa Bay Lightning, there were several things to be excited about. At the forefront, was his ability to produce on the power play.
Nearly half of his offensive point totals in that final Lightning season came on the man advantage with 9 goals and 17 assists. However, there was a clear difference in personnel Drouin was lining up with once the opposing team took a penalty. Nikita Kucherov, Ondrej Palat, and Brayden Point were the players he was with in Tampa, while Max Pacioretty, Brendan Gallagher, and Alex Galchenyuk was the forward unit in Montreal.
The upcoming season should see a similar unit involving Drouin. Galchenyuk is now out of the organization, and although it makes sense to have Max Domi take his spot, a clear shooter would make more sense. Perhaps Artturi Lehkonen or an improved Nikita Scherbak are tasked with taking charge of the right side.
There’s going to be a new power play point leader with the departure of Galchenyuk, and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be Drouin. In a poll on Twitter, most Montreal Canadiens fans appear to agree with that sentiment as well.
Who leads the team in PP scoring this upcoming season? #Habs
— A Winning Habit (@FSAWinningHabit) July 25, 2018
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The 23-year-old is due to improve on his offensive contributions as well. There’s a lot more that wasn’t brought to the table last season, and a re-adjusted shooting percentage (Drouin fell from 11.5% to 7.9%) is the beginning of why it will be better.
Jeff Petry is most likely to be the player on the point building off the production he had the year before stepping into a role of being the Habs top defenceman. You know what you’re getting with Gallagher who is going to pounce of pucks found in the low slot. Pacioretty and Lehkonen are the two wildcards as both had relatively disappointing seasons offensively. However, both have the potential to be dangerous options.
The likelihood of Drouin being the top producer depends on whether his linemates can capitalize on the chances he creates. He’s displayed the ability to have a lot of offence flow through his play contributing to 95% on-ice shots (via Ryan Stimson’s Comparison Tool). That comes in the form of the type of passes he’s able to make in combination with his vision and zone entries.
It’ll be interesting to see how the power play looks with a year of growth under Drouin’s belt. The skill is there, everything, however, needs to come together appropriately.
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