Is the Montreal Canadiens blue line good enough for the playoffs?

This weeks roundtable we discuss the Montreal Canadiens power play, who to look out for at the World Juniors, and whether the defence is good enough.

1) The Montreal Canadiens finally scored a power play goal against the Colorado Avalanche but missed on three other opportunities. What’s the problem with it?

Sebastian: I breathed a sigh of relief along with the entire city when the goal light went off on the power play against the Avalanche. However, we only have 12.4% scoring rate on the power play this year (not including the game against Arizona – now it’s 12.9%). While we possess quality players that in theory should excel with a man advantage, it is simply not working. There are undoubtedly countless factors involved in the success of the power play. However, I believe that two are really hurting the efficiency of ours.

Firstly, we have simply not been cycling the puck well. It always seems slow and sluggish, just pay attention to that the next time you watch our power play. The teams that are deadly with an extra man are all excellent at distributing the puck from one player to another unpredictably, which opens up shooting lanes. Our power play is always centred on Weber’s or Petry’s shot, and the defence knows it. This makes it easy for defenders to jump a pass route, leading to a clearance or a counter-attack. The Habs have to spread out the shots and the dangerous opportunities in order to ever get a decent chance of scoring.

Secondly, our zone entries are really quite terrible. It is usually up to Jonathan Drouin to creatively pass the opponent’s blue line, which he does elegantly and fairly effectively. However, the downfall of the zone entry comes right after he passes the blue line. The defenders close in on him, and nobody is open for a pass. The possession is then lost, and we have to start all over again. I have seen this exact scenario play out a few dozen times in the past month or so, and it is infuriating to watch, because Drouin does so well but has no support at all, and the outcome is almost always the same.

Collin Jones: It’s a good question. There are several reasons. But I think the primary reason is that Montreal has serious problems entering the zone. The puck gets dumped into the offensive zone, but there is no one crashing the net to retrieve the puck. Then it gets dumped by the defense, and so on and so on.

I also think it may have a lot to do with who is carrying the puck through the neutral zone. It’s been Jonathan Drouin for a large majority of the season. If that is not working—which it isn’t—I do not see why Muller is not giving other players touches. I would like to see Max Domi or Tomas Tatar carry the puck into the zone more often.

It is fundamental, but there seems to be an easy solution. I see other teams doing this all the time with no trouble. A forward carries the puck into the zone, stopping along the half wall, and pitching the puck back to the defenseman. This seems to be incredibly effective and allows the offense to control the pace. Instead Montreal dumps the puck without chasing after it. It is ineffective, and it is exhausting to watch.

Surprisingly, Shea Weber has not added a ton to the power play, but scoring against the Arizona Coyotes helped. Perhaps it will tighten up as the season continues.

Omar White: I’ve looked at this in previous posts. The fact that the Montreal Canadiens have scored on the man advantage in back-to-back games is a step in the right direction. However, there are still things to improve on.

No one is looking for the Habs to score on every single opportunity, but they need to do a better job in generating more offensive pressure when the units are put to work. The go-to issues are the zone entries and of course the lack of shots. The players on the team, on both units, seem to always look for the perfect pass or the perfect play to beat a goaltender while the goal to end the slump is the way to proceed.

Jeff Petry, Jonathan Drouin, and Brendan Gallagher had a quick triangle of execution beginning with a blueline slapshot and transitioning to puck retrieval and another chance from the point seconds later. That’s what is going to lead to more success. Getting the puck off sticks quickly is a good way to keep the penalty killers and the goaltenders guessing, especially on a powerplay who has a, for lack of better choice of words, predictable endpoint in Weber.

The next step is for the Montreal Canadiens to get the second unit going. Adding Paul Byron is a logical move given his goal-scoring ability. Byron gets the most of his scoring done at even strength. However, he knows where to go in the offensive zone and is generally in the right spots to get a good shot on net. Additionally, his speed is an asset as far as puck retrieval goes.

If nothing changes with unit two, perhaps the Habs go back to the 3-2 model there as well. Victor Mete saw some time on the second unit last season, and it would be interesting if we see a pair of him and Mike Reilly. For now, it’s a guessing game, but it’ll be interesting to see where the power play goes from here.

2) Which prospect are you excited to see at the 2019 World Junior Hockey Championships?

S: While I am as excited as any other Habs fan to watch Nick Suzuki light up the World Juniors, I am more curious about Josh Brook, who will be Suzuki’s Team Canada teammate. Brook has been electric for the Moose Jaw Warriors this season. He has been nearly producing a primary point every single game from the point, as revealed by David St-Louis of Habs Eyes On The Prize in his mid-season prospect review.

Brook is dominant at both ends of the ice and is plus-14 on the season. The 2017 second round draft pick will have a great opportunity to show the world his skills in BC during the World Juniors. I believe that the 19-year-old will one day become a mainstay on our blueline and I can not wait to see him play against real opposition in the tournament. If we’re extremely lucky, we may even see some real chemistry form between him and Nick Suzuki.

CJ: Nick Suzuki. No question. The kid can skate and has good hands. I look forward to seeing his speed show-cased during the WJCs.

OW: I know Suzuki and Brook will and should be prime watching targets for Montreal Canadiens followers. But I’ll be watching Ryan Poehling.

The 2017 first-round pick is going to represent the United States at the World Juniors for the second time. Poehling helped Team USA to a bronze medal putting up a goal and two assists in seven assists. What has always been emphasized in the 19-year-old’s game is his commitment to taking care of both ends of the ice.

His offence has improved since his draft year. Poehling had 13 points in 35 games in his first season at St. Cloud State, 31 in 36 games the year after (including 14 goals), and currently has 17 points in 16 games. Given the names on the US roster, tallying up points shouldn’t be too difficult of a task, and it’ll be interesting to see what kind of role Poehling places himself in.

Is it too much to ask for Poehling to have some degree of a dominating factor in British Columbia? Maybe. Although, what Marc Bergevin said over the summer has always stuck with me. It may be different considering the Montreal Canadiens are in a playoff spot and could be fighting to maintain it all year, but the general manager did mention the possibility of Poehling joining the team towards the end of the season.

That could change if St. Cloud State has a long running in the NCAA Championships though. Otherwise, Poehling may get a game or two and set the foundation for a roster push for the 2019-20 season. His performance so far at St. Cloud is the first step, and the World Juniors will be another for the young prospect.

3) Can the Habs make the playoffs if there aren’t any changes are made to the blue line?

S: This is a tough one for me. The six best defensemen in the organization, in my opinion, are (in order) Shea Weber, Jeff Petry, Noah Juulsen, Victor Mete, Mike Reilly and Brett Kulak. I personally believe that this corps should be enough to get into a wild-card spot. However, with Juulsen in Laval and the possibility of injuries, I think the Habs need to acquire a left-sided d-man to play 20 minutes on Weber’s side.

Kulak is decent but is by no means a first-pairing calibre guy. Jake Muzzin would be an interesting if unrealistic acquisition. He is plus-6 and has 13 points for the league’s bottom team, the LA Kings. He is capable of 30-minute nights but is most comfortable in the 23-minute range, ideal for Weber’s partner. The 29-year-old is 6-foot-3-inches and provides a physical presence. In my mind, he would be the perfect complement to Weber, but the price could be quite steep. The trade could conceivably require us giving up one of our two young defensemen (Mete or Juulsen) as well as a 2nd round pick, and that would be if LA wants to offload him.

While I doubt that a top-pairing guy will be acquired, I strongly believe that Marc Bergevin will attempt to upgrade the current defensive unit with a trade. I hope this potential trade would include David Schlemko who should be a second-pairing AHL guy in my opinion. A possible player in this category would be Brayden McNabb from the Vegas Golden Knights. He plays 20 minutes a night and has a modest five assists to his name this year. He is, however, 6-foot-4 and is a reliable defenseman. He is currently plus-minus 0, but in last year’s terrific campaign he was at plus-26.

All in all, we need to improve our defence, and I hope Bergevin makes a solid trade.