Montreal Canadiens Season Preview: Christian Folin
The Montreal Canadiens season is just around the corner. We are getting you prepared for it by previewing every player that is going to suit up in a Habs jersey this season. Today, we take a closer look at what Christian Folin‘s role will be next season.
The Montreal Canadiens made a minor trade leading up to the trade deadline last season that involved fairly significant dollars. The Habs sent Byron Froese and David Schlemko who was earning $2.1 million per season to the Philadelphia Flyers for Dale Weise who will make $2.35 million next season and Christian Folin.
Over the final few months of the season, it became evident that the Canadiens had acquired the best player in the deal. Folin, a physical defender who has bounced around the National Hockey League over the past three season showed he is an NHL calibre player. Schlemko, Weise and Froese failed to prove to their new employers that they are at the same level.
Folin, suited up in 19 contests for the Canadiens after his arrival and chipped in four assists. He is not known for his offensive prowess, but he did prove during his short time in Montreal that he is capable of playing a bottom pairing role and being a reliable defensive presence in his own zone.
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Though he played a depth role, primarily being on the ice with Jordie Benn on the team’s third pairing, the duo were not often stuck in their own end. In fact, while Folin was on the ice wearing a Canadiens uniform, the Habs directed 263 shots towards the opponent’s goal, while 251 shots were directed towards the Canadiens goaltender. That is a 51.17 Corsi-For percentage.
At 6’3″ and 204 pounds, the Swedish defender was not the kindest player to battle for pucks either. He averaged about 3.5 hits per game while playing for the Canadiens, bringing a physical edge that is a rare commodity on this team.
At 28 years of age, Folin was scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent this summer. He had just wrapped up a one year contract that he signed with the Philadelphia Flyers with a cap hit of $800,000. Instead of hitting the open market, he elected to return to Montreal for next season with an identical cap hit. He signed the extension in mid-April, just days after the season ended, showing he did not even consider signing with another team.
It is a good sign for the Canadiens that players are more than happy to neglect the enticing pull of free agency in favour of staying in Montreal. However, with added depth at the defensive position, what kind of a role is Folin going to have next season?
Folin was acquired by the Canadiens on February 9th. It was shortly after it was announced that Noah Juulsen would be shut down for the season after being hit with two pucks in the same game earlier in the season. It was pretty obvious that the Folin acquisition was in response to the Juulsen injury.
Well, Juulsen is full recovered from that injury now and will be looking to take his job back in training camp. There will be a very distinct roster battle between the two of them for the right side of the third defence pairing.
Working against Folin is that Juulsen is a first round draft pick of the Canadiens who they have been developing for this role since 2015. He is a big, defensive defenceman as well and looked great early last season before his injuries.
Working for Folin is the fact the team was quick to re-sign him, showing a confidence in what he brought to the team last season. Folin finished the season strong while Juulsen hasn’t played a game since Christmas. Also, Juulsen is waiver exempt meaning he can be sent to the Laval Rocket without being offered up to other teams. The Canadiens would lose organizational depth if they keep Juulsen up and put Folin on waivers to be claimed by another team.
This means the safe move is to keep Folin on the Canadiens to start the season and send Juulsen to the Laval Rocket. Juulsen is just 22 years old and will be close to ten months removed from his last hockey game when the puck drops to start the NHL season.
I think we are going to see Folin start the season on the third defence pairing next to Brett Kulak. We already know that Folin can handle the role and continue to bring an efficient defensive game. His physicality is even more of a rarity in Montreal now that Benn and Andrew Shaw have left town.
Next. Taking a deeper look at the Habs defence. dark
Folin is going to have a hard time holding onto his job if Juulsen starts the season well in Laval. However, there are always lots of injuries during an NHL season and I think we will see Folin drop to the seventh defenceman at worst if he eventually loses his role to the younger defender. You need lots of defensive depth to win in the National Hockey League and luckily, the Canadiens have plenty of it on the back end.