Five Reasons The Montreal Canadiens Will Make The Playoffs

The Montreal Canadiens missed the playoffs last season and did not make any huge move this summer. However, there are many reasons to believe they can return to the postseason next year.

The Montreal Canadiens go into 2019-20 with a lot to prove. Coming off a surprisingly electric season that ultimately ended without the postseason for the second year in a row, the boys will be looking to capitalize this time around.

A  few teams, including the New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers and Florida Panthers have taken necessary actions to improved their lineups in a substantial way this summer. We’ll have to wait and see how those improvements effect the on ice results because these teams could give the Canadiens fits.

The Panthers in particular, are a team that we should be most worried about after adding one of the best coaches in the league in Joel Quenneville and a top tier goaltender in Sergei Bobrovsky. Not to mention they are in the same division as we are. A division that is already one of the strongest in the league with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs and now the Panthers becoming a real threat.

The Canadiens will have their work cut out for them to make the playoffs. It won’t be easy, but I believe we have what it takes to make that next step. It will take certain things going right, certain players stepping up that may not have in the past and key additions proving their worth.

Player growth

The Canadiens had so many storylines during last season, including Max Domi‘s rise to stardom and Tatar’s big bounce back season, to Jesperi Kotkaniemi‘s surprising play, that saw him make the team full time as the youngest player ever in all four major North American sports.

While many players had career years, a couple did not and the success of the team will largely depend on two players stepping up in some way.

Jonathan Drouin in no way had a bad season, but he did disappear in the final 20 plus games when the Habs needed him most. The team will be hoping he can find a little more consistency and even build upon the season he had. Drouin put up 53 points, good for 18th in total points among left wingers in the league, but by the midway mark of the season he was on pace for 80 plus points. I’m not suggesting he will produce 80 points next year, but If he can consistently put up 70 or more points and continue to improve his game away from the puck, he could find himself in the top 10 scorers among left wingers, which would boost his value to the team immensely.

Another player that needs to find that spark in his game again, is Artturi Lehkonen. He was able to rack up 18 goals his rookie season back in 2016-17, but since then has fallen flat in that department. He still generates an unbelievable amount of scoring chances, especially for a player so unsuccessful at actually putting the puck past a netminder. I believe his troubles are in part due to luck but he also has a confidence issue that may go away as he matures. His play away from the puck is already a huge asset to the team, combining that with some added offense and he becomes a real option for the hole at right wing in the top-6.

Improved power play

This may be the biggest factor of them all. The “Man disadvantage” if you will. The Montreal Canadiens power play was absolutely atrocious last year. In fact, the Nashville Predators were the only team in the league with a worse power play. Some may blame coach Kirk Muller and that’s fair. Some blame the lack of “Talent” on the roster, that could be the case to an extent. I believe they have enough talent to be at least league average, I believe that to be the case with the Predators as well. I think we started poor, and that led to a slump which lasted the majority of the season. My theory is backed up by the fact that they were capitalizing on 31% of their power plays during the final 10 games, good for 5th in the league. In no way am I saying that pace will continue into next season, but it gives a good indication of the potential this team possesses, to be better.

Price’s new partner in crime

The signing of Keith Kinkaid to a one-year deal worth 1.75 million, is a clear upgrade over Antti Niemi, who is now playing for Jokerit of the KHL. Niemi had his good games as well as some bad ones, the only problem is, he had bad games at crucial moments in the season. Kinkaid gives Price a partner that he can share some of his work load with and hopefully give Montreal Canadiens fans a sense of comfort while he’s between the pipes. He has a career average save percentage of .906 and a goals against average of 2.90. Those numbers are a little screwed because of the poor season he put forth in 2018-19, where he had a save percentage of just .891. He had back to back seasons with .916 and .913 the two years prior, so Habs fans will hope to see that level of play from him going forward.

Shea Weber‘s health

Shea Weber was out until November of 2018 and the Canadiens didn’t realize quite how badly they missed him until he made his return. They saw a big shift in effectiveness after Weber was re-inserted into the lineup, specifically in terms of team possession and goals against, going from 6th to 1st in CF% in the league. He also allowed other defensemen like Jeff Petry to fall back into their respective roles. His return gave Mete the chance to develop key parts of his game and take chances knowing the man mountain was their to cover for him like he had at times the year prior. Having Weber from day one will, without a doubt, be a huge boost to the team, not only on the ice, but off of it as well.

Key rookie additions

Ryan Poehling and Nick Suzuki top a list of potential AHL call-ups during the season in the case that someone inevitably gets injured. They also have the opportunity to make the team straight out of training camp and I would consider that the most likely scenario for Poehling. He had an amazing debut last season and even if you ignore the hat-trick and shootout game winner, he simply looked as though he belonged on the team and in the NHL.

Nick Suzuki led the Guelph Storm on an amazing OHL playoff run, that resulted in an OHL Championship and could very well be ready to make the big club as well. He is such a smart and skilled play, his talents would be a big addition to this team. Other potential call-ups include: Jake Evans, Lukas Vejdemo, Cale Fleury and former WHL defenseman of the year runner up Josh Brook.

There are many reasons to be optimistic about 2019-20. The Montreal Canadiens need a few things to go right in order to make the playoffs, but nothing on this list is out of the realm of possibility. It will be interesting to follow the progression of the team throughout the year.