Paul Byron is out for the time being and the Montreal Canadiens have four possible options to replace him, but only one makes the most sense.
Tuesday night was an eventful night for the Montreal Canadiens, as were the bits of news that were released the day afterwards.
The team defeated the Florida Panthers 6-1 but lost Paul Byron to an upper-body injury after his tilt with MacKenzie Weegar. Fans and media personnel alike voiced their thoughts and feelings on whether Byron needed to fight or not which intensified after the team announced that the 29-year-old wasn’t coming along on the trip to Columbus.
Again, a piece of news we all should’ve guessed, but the anticipation didn’t make it any less easy of a pill to swallow.
Now the Montreal Canadiens have to enter their toughest and most important game of the season to date, without one of their leaders and better players. So let’s get to the meat of this conversation: who should replace him?
The Habs have had Charles Hudon, Matthew Peca, Dale Weise, and Nicolas Deslauriers on the sidelines for the longest time. Peca was assumed to be the team’s fourth line centre after signing a two-year contract with an AAV of $1.3 million. Hudon is in a contract year hoping to establish himself as a key player on the team but his struggles to produce and be consistent caught up with him.
Deslauriers started the season with an injury after a fight in the preseason and managed to get a run of games with Michael Chaput and Kenny Agostino were still on the team. And finally, Weise who made his return to Montreal ahead of the trade deadline being acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers, along with Christian Folin, in exchange for David Schlemko and Byron Froese.
Of the four, Deslauriers has played the most games (45), followed by Peca (38), Hudon (32), and Weise with the least.
If Claude Julien wants to closely match what Byron brought to the fourth line then Peca makes the most sense. He brings an element of speed and skill but what Julien will value the most is his ability to kill penalties. Byron’s strength in that category may end up being one of the things the Montreal Canadiens miss the most as the penalty kill hasn’t been anywhere close to what the powerplay is when it comes to success.
Another option, keeping the penalty kill in mind is Weise. He didn’t get too much time doing it with the Montreal Canadiens, but the 30-year-old had about 65 minutes of shorthanded time in 41 games with the Flyers this year. Weise’s skating isn’t as great, especially when it comes to comparing explosiveness with Byron, but he can be trusted to calm things down in those events.
Having Hudon in only makes sense if Julien wants to add more energy and offensive opportunity to the fourth line. He may not have as many goals as he’d like but Hudon has a boatload of shot attempts and shots on goal that could turn into scoring chances for the Habs.
However, you could argue Jordan Weal has been what the Montreal Canadiens wanted Hudon to be and having both on the same line may not be ideal when you can a player that brings with them a different dynamic.
There’s not too much of a point in throwing Deslauriers in unless Julien wants to add another physical element. He has dabbled with killing penalties but Peca is better in that regard based on his speed.
It’ll be interesting to see who Julien ends up going with, but all signs point to Peca at this point.