Montreal Canadiens Victor Mete must improve his shot locations and totals

Victor Mete has gone two seasons with the Montreal Canadiens without a goal and making better decisions on where those shots are coming from will help.

Unless something goes horribly wrong or the Montreal Canadiens make another move, Victor Mete should be on the top pair next to Shea Weber to start the season.

There’s been a lot to like about his growth as a defenceman since making the NHL two years ago. He skates well, complimenting the quick-moving forwards upfront and the team’s rush play, and has improved his play in his own end. Mete had some spouts with Claude Julien which led to his temporary demotion to the AHL, but it seemed to work for the better.

Unfortunately, there is one glaring thing that you can’t not look at. Victor Mete has 120 games under his belt over the course of two seasons. He increased his point total from 7 to 13, and all of them have been assists with not a single goal to his name.

It’s gotten to the point where fans are coming up with crazy scenarios on how Mete will get his first NHL game. For what it’s worth, I’m convinced it’s going to bounce off a couple of skates and roll down Tukka Rask’s back. All jokes aside, what is going on here?

Mete had 43 shots on 97 attempts in his debut season and increased it to 65 shots on 164 attempts. At the very least, it’s comforting to see the 21-year-old gain confidence in sending more rubber to the net. Especially given the fact that Julien was using Mete a lot more in the defensive zone at even strength than last year (51.4% vs. 43.4%).

Mete does have some shot attempts in those dangerous areas, but as a defenceman, the bulk of his output should be from the point. Let’s look at two of his influences, Jeff Petry, who he’s spent time playing with, and Morgan Rielly, a player Mete has tried to mimic his game after.

Both Petry and Rielly had at least 400 shot attempts (408 and 436 respectively) with the former finishing with 172 shots while the latter had 223. Petry has a crazy amount of pressure from the centre to far-right point while Rielly is contained to the left. No surprise there as that are their respective positions.

It’s not as if Petry and Rielly freely show shots on net (I mean sometimes they do). Their shots are timed appropriately whether to beat a goaltender or set up a teammate for a deflection or rebound.

Mete needs to start with getting more shots on net at those opportune times. At the same time, if he joins the rush and is in a prime area, he needs to get those shots off as well.

The young defenceman is going to have a lot of responsibility on his hands as Weber’s defence partner. However, the role could instill more confidence in his ability to take control of his side of the ice and make plays to finally score a goal.

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