Montreal Canadiens: Addressing the rumours and Pacioretty’s production

There have been a lot of rumours around the Montreal Canadiens, but the drafted defencemen who need contracts and Max Pacioretty’s scoring are prime topics too.

Summer is almost over meaning things within the NHL are right around the corner. The Montreal Canadiens decided to participate in some of the minor news headlines of August in making that trade for Hunter Shinkaruk and then signing him to a one-year contract. It’s essentially a ‘Prove It’ deal for the 2013 first-round pick who is now with his third NHL organization.

He may not get the chance to prove anything right away as he has a slew of forwards ahead of him who the Habs will want to pay attention to this season. However, if he’s lights out with the Laval Rocket, it would be surprising if he didn’t get a game or two at some point.

Michael McCarron is the only restricted free agent in need of a deal and who knows what’s taking place on that front. He can’t report to training camp without a contract, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Montreal Canadiens find a trade partner for him too. It depends on their opinion on him and whether they believe they can get McCarron to a level that can be effective in their lineup.

But there are other things to discuss that don’t revolve around news per say. At the top of this week’s roundtable are all the rumours around the Montreal Canadiens. Some have been interesting, others have been shocking, and others have been plain wrong.

Additionally, the Montreal Canadiens are going to have more young player contract situations to deal with. In particular, their four defencemen drafted back in 2017. All four are promising and have potential, but do all four get a deal? That’s some of the things tackled on Mock IV of the AWH Roundtable.

• Mock I: Max Pacioretty trade situation, 2018 draft standouts, remaining RFAs
• Mock II: Expectations for Max Domi, players set to have breakout seasons, cap space left to work with
• Mock III: NHL debuts, a top-six role for Matthew Peca, and the number of performance bonuses Tomas Plekanec can hit

Kamal Rehman: I think it comes with the territory of being a Montreal Canadien. Some of them are so outlandish that one can tell they are just rumours. Some pique my interest, and I’ll see if there is anything to said rumours. The rumours about Habs players’ personal lives are unfortunate and don’t interest me at all. Keep it to hockey, and I’m okay with them.

Omar White: Rumours come with professional sports, especially within such a marquee organization like the Montreal Canadiens. However, I think we can all admit that the scope of the team is a lot more magnified than others. Trade rumours go hand-in-hand with the territory, and obviously, the major ones involve Max Pacioretty.

Additionally, it’s a double-edged sword in the fact that the Habs never really come out and deny the funky rumours that make the rounds on social media. The team’s Twitter account shut down the talk of Bergevin and Julien skipping Pacioretty’s golf tournament and Allan Walsh squashed the Jonathan Drouin injury buzz. But there’s no way for any of it to stop and it’s not necessarily the team’s prerogative to step in front of every single rumour. That said some of the more personal ones have been ridiculous and I think when it gets to that point where the safety of a player is put in jeopardy, speaking out would be effective there.

It’s about making sure the team is performing and is in the right headspace. No one knows how they handle the rumours, but it can’t help. However, there’s no real way to prevent any of them from being created or spread. It comes down to whether those who read the outlandish rumours believe them

2) The Habs must have Josh Brook, Scott Walford, Cale Fleury, and Jarret Tyszka signed by June 1st to hold on to their rights. How many of them receive entry-level deals?

MK: Potentially all four. The only one who I could potentially see floating is Scott Walford, but even yet doubtful. They are all young defensemen who are producing. I don’t see any reason to throw them away before they show what they are really capable of yet.

KR: I’ll go out on a limb and say all of them. Depth is always a good thing to have in the organization, and they all have decent size. Fleury is the guy generating some buzz.

ZC: Josh Brook has had the injury bug, but I still see a ton of potential in the young defenceman. I think he’s done enough to get qualified, and would be the priority out of these four. I don’t know enough about Jarret Tyszka’s development to comment, but I have heard good things. In regards to Scott Walford and Cale Fleury, both seem to be on the Canadiens radar, and time will tell if their development continues with the Montreal Canadiens organization.

OW: In an ideal world, all get signed to entry-level contracts, and I’m willing to bet more on that scenario. The only cause for concern is that the Montreal Canadiens currently sit at 47 contracts and only have room for three more. Granted the four defencemen have until June 1st to get a deal, and some player movement should take place within the Habs system.

Pacioretty, Paul Byron, Kenny Agostino, Byron Froese, Antti Niemi, Tomas Plekanec, and Jordie Benn will be unrestricted free agents. Byron is the only one I can see getting an extension with the Habs for sure and who knows, maybe things smooth out between Pacioretty and management where they agree on an extension.

But if we’re ranking them based on their potential for the future Fleury, Brook, and Walford should get contracts first and foremost.

3) How many goals do you think Max Pacioretty can score with the Habs before the Trade Deadline (assuming he’s still on the team by then)?

MK: Without a doubt Pacioretty is capable of 25 goals before the trade deadline. I will continue to stand behind the belief that last season is not predictive of future seasons for Pacioretty. No career is complete without poor seasons. There were so many different factors contributing to the performance we saw from the captain in the 2017/18 campaign. I cannot envision a repeat. Incapable of developing chemistry with Drouin, maybe playing alongside a different playmaker in Domi will allow him to start producing again.

KR: As much as I think Max still has it and will re-bound this year, part of me worries that with all the trade talk around him the mental toll from it could hold him back again. We all know how proud Max is and how he has let external issues get to him. Knowing that he just bought a house in Westmount and spent his entire summer in Montreal shows how much he loves the city and how badly he wants to stay. This desire coupled with the opposite desire from Bergevin will weigh heavily on Pacioretty. I think Max will be at 19 goals by the deadline. Not bad, but not great and better than last year. But, I will say he’ll catch fire after being traded and will finish with 32.

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ZC: I would likely sense a bounce-back campaign from Max Pacioretty, and one where he gets back to being his regular, goal scoring self. It’s very unlikely, despite the makeup of the Canadiens roster, that Pacioretty is as snake-bitten as last year, and his elite shot and hockey IQ will probably see the Habs captain on the board between 20 and 23 times before the trade deadline. I expect yet another 30 goal year from Max, especially in a contract season.

OW: Pacioretty usually has around 30 goals by the time the trade deadline hits (except for in the 2015-16 season when he had a red-hot streak going into the playoffs). There’s no doubt the team captain can get back to his scoring ways, even if he is a victim of a slow start which he’s known for. I could see Pacioretty at 27 goals deadline day.

What will be interesting to see is if the 29-year-old reverts back to some of his older methods of scoring that changed this past season. Pacioretty headed to the net a lot more and took fewer shots from the wings. There was also a major case of bad luck when it came to his production at 5v5 seeing his shooting percentage at a measly 4.72%. All that will take care of itself, and hopefully, with a brighter and more positive mindset, Pacioretty can return to the elite sniper he’s been for the Montreal Canadiens.

Moving on from him is going to be bittersweet, but the possible assets the organization can gain in exchange will continue to put them in a better position for the long haul.