A Winning Habit
Fansided

Josh’s Take: Montreal Canadiens season in review

By Joshua Delorme

MONTREAL, QC - MARCH 21: Paul Byron #41, Victor Mete #53, Jordan Weal #43, Shea Weber #6, Nate Thompson #21 and Carey Price #31 of the Montreal Canadiens stand attended for the Canadian national anthem before the NHL game the New York Islanders at the Bell Centre on March 21, 2019 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - MARCH 21: Paul Byron #41, Victor Mete #53, Jordan Weal #43, Shea Weber #6, Nate Thompson #21 and Carey Price #31 of the Montreal Canadiens stand attended for the Canadian national anthem before the NHL game the New York Islanders at the Bell Centre on March 21, 2019 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 10
Next
Montreal Canadiens
MONTREAL, QC – APRIL 6: Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Filip Zadina, Brady Tkachuk, Jesperi Kotkaniemi were still on the board, and many fans were screaming for high-scoring winger Filip Zadina. I don’t know how many of you actually watched the draft, and if you did, I hope you remember the reaction of that Canadiens fan sitting in the stands when they announced Jesperi Kotkaniemi as the pick. That face was priceless. If you didn’t see it, Google it and check it out. If you did see it, do yourself the favour of going to see it again!

The Canadiens had been searching for top-6 centres for as long as I can remember. They thought they had drafted one in Alex Galchenyuk, but that wasn’t the case. Kotkaniemi had risen rapidly in draft rankings towards the end of the season as he put up good numbers as a 17-year-old playing for Assat of Finland’s Liiga.

His 29 points in 57 games as a 17-year-old impressed many scouts, and he had produced well at the World Junior Championship. Drafting Kotkaniemi could be considered the most important off-season acquisition for General Manager Marc Bergevin, as he really provides the Canadiens with a top-level centre prospect, who has top line potential. How long have we needed that in Montreal?!

Another off-season acquisition, which proved to be the most important this year points-wise, was the trade in June that saw Montreal send Alex Galchenyuk to Arizona for Max Domi. Now, at the time, I could not have been more against this trade. I thought Marc Bergevin had finally officially lost his mind. I have been bullish on Galchenyuk since he was drafted, and I always believed he wasn’t given enough of a chance to succeed in Montreal.

Home/Editorials