Four Lingering Questions for the Montreal Canadiens
The 2019 offseason is continuing to plug along, but there are still some questions hockey minds, and fans should have about the Montreal Canadiens.
We are truly in the dog days of an NHL summer. Players are uploading videos of themselves working out or getting together with teammates while fans are desperate for any kind of news regarding their team. The last thing the Montreal Canadiens did was extend Charles Hudon for a one-year $800,000 contract, and it looks as if that will be the final “major” thing to happen before training camp.
But it’s the summer when the divide between the everyday fan and the diehard fan is the most apparent. The diehard has spent a lot of time thinking about the team continuously going through various Capfriendly’s and Daily Faceoff line projections.
The recent Milan Lucic for James Neal trade likely got your brain racing on other possible moves that can play out. Looking at the Habs specifically, the name – when it comes to bad contracts – is Karl Alzner and his $4.625 million cap hit.
There are avenues to trade Alzner in a similar model to the Lucic-Neal move where the Montreal Canadiens would have to take back an unideal contract. Could buying him out be a possibility or would the cap penalty in the second year be too much of a cost to justify?
That may be an example of a more obvious question surrounding the Habs, but there are others. And with August around the corner, it’s a matter of time before some are all of these questions get some kind of answer.
Why Extend Michael McCarron?
Michael McCarron was walking into a situation at the beginning of last season where he would have to prove himself. Despite getting some games at the end of the 2017-18 season and believing he was an NHL player, McCarron still had a lot to do and show to be a Montreal Canadien full time.
He didn’t stand out enough at training camp and became more of a complementary piece on a poor Laval Rocket team. With his shoulder injury taking him out for the rest of the year, it seemed as if McCarron was done with the organization. That was until the Habs qualified along with Hudon, Artturi Lehkonen, Joel Armia, and Mike Reilly.
All have already signed new deals with the organization while McCarron is the final name remaining. Odds are he is signed to his qualifying offer similar to last season but is there a point?
It’s a nice gesture from Marc Bergevin and the Habs to give him one more chance to prove he can make it. At the same time, Laval still needs bodies and McCarron has shown he can be a serviceable player in the AHL.
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But when it comes to training camp this year, McCarron will be in a battle against Nate Thompson, Jordan Weal, and Nick Cousins. All are more experienced in the NHL while Weal and Cousins specifically are good skaters who can match the pace of play the Montreal Canadiens established last season.
McCarron is in an uphill battle on rollerblades, and it’ll take a lot to push the envelope if that’s what the Habs have in store for him. Perhaps Bergevin takes a page from the Oilers and Flames and makes a deal with another team who has a lingering prospect. Those ‘change of scenery’ deals seem to work out sometimes, and maybe that’s what this all leads to.
Is the Power Play any Better?
When your team goes on the man advantage, and no one has confidence in that they’ll do anything with it, there’s a massive problem. The Montreal Canadiens power play finished 30th in the league at 13.2% but spent a lot of time in the season as the worst.
Many blamed Kirk Muller and his system, but the effectiveness of the Canadian power play at the World Hockey Championships in Slovakia quickly changed that narrative. Granted, it’s a different set of circumstances with bigger ice, but Canada’s units were doing more with the puck than the Montreal Canadiens ever did all season.
The issue was the personnel. The entire two minutes would wind up being a game of mildly hot potato as the players on the ice would continue to pass and make stoppable shots. The times they were able to score early on into the slump was when they were given opportunities similar to their scoring chances at 5v5.
Speed down the wing to break into the zone followed by shots and/or passing plays in front of the net to keep the goalie moving and force the opposition out of position. Besides that, it would be the ‘set up Shea Weber‘ show or have one player try to do too much and end up turning the puck over.
On paper, the power play hasn’t changed. What the Montreal Canadiens can bank on is perhaps more creativity from a more experienced Jesperi Kotkaniemi and more net-front play with Ryan Poehling in the fold. Another thing that can help is a better season overall from Jonathan Drouin, who has the tools to be the main trigger on the power play and dictate scoring chances.
The downside to that is it’ll take a lot of patience, trust and reassurance. If the Habs start the season with another underwhelming power play, it could continue to cost them games, regardless of their goaltending.
Can Keith Kinkaid be a Difference Maker?
When many thought next year but would be the time for Charlie Lindgren to be a full-time backup for the Montreal Canadiens, they instead chose to bring in Keith Kinkaid. A completely justified decision given how little Antti Niemi did for the Habs down the stretch.
It got to point where Claude Julien continued to run Price for the rest of the season even starting him in both back-to-back games. That could’ve been the difference had the Habs made the playoffs but playing a goaltender that much – even for Carey Price – isn’t sustainable, especially if the team has plans on going on a deep run.
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Enter Kinkaid who was a backup with the New Jersey Devils but took the reigns from Corey Schnieder. He continued to be New Jersey’s starter until he was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets as insurance for the playoffs despite not playing a single game.
What do we know? We know that Kinkaid can take on the goaltending load of a 1A and still provide serviceable goaltending. At the same time, he knows what his role is, and that’s the best quality a team can have in a backup.
Sometimes teams have young goaltenders in a supportive role who deeply want to be the starter and the frustration of not being able to play builds up. Kinkaid is 30 years old and has been in this position before and ideally sees 20-25 games for the Montreal Canadiens keeping Price around the 60-game mark.
Kinkaid’s numbers from his last run with the Devils aren’t too flattering with a .891 save percentage (Sv%). His goals saved above average (GSAA) – a stat that compares league average Sv% to the goalie’s Sv% to find a physical number of how many goals are being allowed or stopped – was -21.92 which is far from reassuring. The year Price wasn’t himself saw him with a GSAA of -17.49 so you can get an idea of how bad things were.
However, there were a lot of issues in New Jersey, and Kinkaid wasn’t the only one responsible for the poor year.
Regardless, signing Kinkaid was a smart move for the Montreal Canadiens, and it hopefully provides Price with the support to not have to overwork himself. The team rises and falls with the play of Price, and if he isn’t solid because of fatigue, then they’re in trouble.
Is Marc Bergevin Satisfied?
No professional sports executive is ever truly satisfied with how their club works. However, you have to think Bergevin had a special wish list heading into the summer which included getting help on defence and in the top six.
The help on the blue line looks to be in the hands of Ben Chiarot while the Montreal Canadiens traded Andrew Shaw for picks while signing depth forwards to fill the void. Again, Kotkaniemi and Poehling could wind up having key roles on the team next season, but it’s hard to think Bergevin is happy with what he’s done given the other moves he tried to make on the offer sheet side of things.
Getting some kind of game-breaking help was definitely in the stars but the Montreal Canadiens look relatively unchanged. It could just be a matter of perception. Training camp may show us something to get behind and be excited for. The odds are slim, but maybe a player who no one even considers makes the team and makes a legitimate difference.
That’s what makes the offseason so excruciating at times. All these questions constantly fly around, and it’s not until September or October when answers finally start to come.
For now, I’m leaning on the side of Bergevin not being particularly happy with what he’s done. I think he truly wanted to make a splash and that’s why he waited a while before signing Chiarot to his contract. Kinkaid and Philip Varone were the only players the Montreal Canadiens signed on July 1st and with being linked to Sebastian Aho, Anders Lee, Patrik Laine, and Brayden Point, there was something bigger out there.
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Either way, the Montreal Canadiens need to show some kind of growth from this past year. Otherwise, we’ll have one other question for the team: what else needs to change?