Montreal Canadiens: Top 5 Reasons They Will Make The Playoffs

5. Added Depth

As mentioned previously, signing Nick Cousins does not really move the needle for the Montreal Canadiens. Neither does Ben Chiarot or Keith Kinkaid. However, when you add them all together, and combine them with players that joined the lineup late last season, you start to see how this added depth could lead to a few more points in the standings.

Remember, a few more points than last year will have this team dangerously close to triple digits, and jumping straight from the “good team” category to “great team.”

As last season went on, players like Brett Kulak started to play more and have a positive impact. Jordan Weal and Nate Thompson arrived via trades in February, and gave the team two more trusted veterans. Sure, they are probably fourth liners, but improvement on the fringes of the lineup, is improvement to the overall product.

With all due respect to Dale Weise, Kenny Agostino, Karl Alzner, David Schlemko, Michael Chaput and Nicolas Deslauriers, the Habs will benefit from not having to count on them to play a combined 152 games. None of those six players are likely to make an opening night NHL lineup next week.

Replacing them with Thompson, Weal, Cousins, Chiarot, and Kulak from the beginning of the season makes the 2019-20 Canadiens an improved team. Again, this isn’t a dramatic improvement that will see them winning 60 games like the Tampa Bay Lightning, but it does make the Habs a better team compared to last year.

4. Internal Growth

The Canadiens added some players around the fringes of the lineup that will make them a deeper, better team but it is the players they’ve kept that result in more optimism. You can not expect a player over the age of 30 to suddenly have a career year, but the Canadiens have very few players of that age.

A lot of the focus surrounding the Canadiens is on Carey Price and Shea Weber. You won’t have to look too far before you find someone tweeting or writing about the Habs aging core and the urgency to win before Price turns into an old man sitting on his porch in a rocking chair.

However, the Canadiens do not have an aging core. Not at all. They have a very young core that is fortunate to have two of the best leaders in the game of hockey on their team. Weber is 34 years old and Price is 32. Like I said, don’t expect them to have career years, but they are still extremely effective.

The rest of the roster is very young which could result in far better results from many of the holdovers from last year’s team. Victor Mete is just 21 and has already proven he can handle top pairing minutes. He is a great skater and smart defensive player, but isn’t it likely that he can improve upon 13 points in 71 games? I’d say he could triple it if he stays healthy and continues to move the puck up ice like he is capable of doing.

Brett Kulak is just 25 and finally arrived as a full-time NHL player last season. Heading into his first  year knowing that he will be making an NHL roster, and having him play from day one should give him more confidence.

Leading scorer Max Domi had a career year, but is just 24 years old. Jonathan Drouin tied a career high in points but he was shutout in 16 of his last 18 games. Also 24 years old, he has the potential to have a fantastic season if he can find a bit more consistency.

Phillip Danault and Brendan Gallagher are 26 and 27, but seem to be following the blueprint of Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand as they continue to get better with age. Artturi Lehkonen is yet another 24 year old who has plenty of untapped offensive potential.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi has the skills to take the biggest jump of any Canadiens player. He was taken third overall in the 2018 NHL Draft, and had a fine rookie season scoring 11 goals and 34 points. He has the potential to be a point-per-game player in future.

How close can he come to 82 points right now? I’m not suggesting he will do it as a teenager, I just think he will be closer to 80 points than 34.

3. Keith Kinkaid

The Canadiens signed a reliable backup goaltender when they inked Keith Kinkaid, formerly of the New Jersey Devils and sort of the Columbus Blue Jackets. They targeted him as soon as the free agent negotiation window opened and got their man when he signed a one year deal with a $1.75 million cap hit.

Kinkaid’s numbers were not terrific last season, but he was asked to carry a heavy load for the Devils when Cory Schneider was once again ineffective. When Kinkaid was asked to be a backup goaltender in his career, he posted great numbers. When he was asked to be a number one goaltender, he turned in mixed results.

He did help a mediocre Devils team qualify for the 2018 playoffs. However, he ran out of gas when they wanted him to carry the team for most of last season.

When Kinkaid became an NHL regular, he posted a 6-5-4 record in the 2014-15 season with a 2.59 goals-against average and a .916 SV%. He followed that up with a 2.81 GAA and a .905 SV% in 2015-16 and a 2.64 GAA, with a .916 SV% the following year.

After that, Kinkaid helped the Devils make the playoffs, a year after being poor enough to get the first overall pick. Last season, his numbers took a nose dive as the season went on and he was tasked with the starter’s role. He did start the season playing well, posting a 9-5-0 record in the first two months with a .916 SV%.

Those numbers would be just fine as Price’s backup. Antti Niemi’ s struggles led to Price playing far too much down the stretch. Niemi played 17 games for the Habs last season and allowed less than three goals on just three occasions.

Kinkaid will be a huge improvement. A few more points from their backup goaltender last season would have led to a playoff berth. Heck, a few more starts from the backup could have led to an even better Carey Price down the stretch and got the Habs into the playoffs.

Kinkaid will not only be better than Niemi when he is in the net, he will allow Price to be well rested throughout the year and at his best from start to finish.

2. Healthy Start For Key Veterans

Shea Weber did not play a game last season until the end of November. He missed the first two months of the season following summer knee surgery. He was dearly missed while he was on the sidelines and immediately transformed the team upon his return.

The Canadiens did okay in his absence, posting a record of 11-8-5 without their captain, but they took off as soon as he arrived. Over the next 24 games, they won 16 and propelled themselves into playoff contention.

Weber was excellent in that time, leading the team in ice time, playing against opponent’s best players, breathing a bit of life into an awful power play, though it didn’t last long, and playing a huge role while shorthanded. Weber helped the Habs become a great defensive team, but they were also a more dangerous offensive team with him in the lineup. Their possession stats show they were a top five team in controlling the play last season. They were 10th before Weber stepped on the ice.

The captain literally improves the Canadiens in all facets of the game. As soon as he pulls on the Canadiens jersey with the C on his chest, the power play adds one of the best goal scoring defensemen in the league, the penalty kill gets better as Weber clears the front of the net and their possession stats prove they are among the most dangerous five on five teams in the league with their captain leading the way.

With him being fully healthy all summer, we can expect him to be more consistent this season. Though he came out of the gates late, he did it on fire, but he eventually slowed down. A full offseason of workouts and preparation for this season will make him even better.

A 20 goal season and 25 minutes of ice time per game is not out of the question for the man once referred to as “man mountain” by the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. That would make the 2019-20 Habs a much improved team.

1. The 20 year old players

There are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about this year’s Montreal Canadiens. They have Carey Price. They have a healthy Shea Weber. They have added plenty of depth. Keith Kinkaid is way better than Antti Niemi. There are so many young forwards that should be better with more experience.

However, the single biggest reason to be excited about the Canadiens this season is their rookies. The added depth is nice, Kinkaid is fine, Weber playing a full season instead of most of it is great.

The biggest change in a positive direction for the Habs in 2019-20 is the arrival of two 20 year old forwards and the possibility they could be joined by a pair of 20 year old defenders.

Nick Suzuki did not play a single game for the Habs last season and Ryan Poehling did play a single game. He scored three goals, but the pair combined for one game played. Both of them have shown in training camp that they have the skill to be top six forwards in the NHL this season.

Having two players jump from the OHL and NCAA to your top six makes a significant impact on the roster. There is no guarantee that Poehling will end up in the top six, but his two-way ability will surely have him playing a role this season. His defensive awareness might make him the best penalty killing forward on the Habs right now.

Suzuki’s skills with the puck, vision, stick-handling and passing make him a power play threat and an ideal addition to the top six. Not only will his skills be a huge boost for the Habs, but his insertion into the lineup will push players like Joel Armia down to the third or fourth line where he can focus on being a reliable defensive forward, which is exactly what he is.

Not only do the Habs have two 20 year old forwards who are ready to make an enormous impact, they could be joined at some time this season by Cale Fleury and Josh Brook on the blue line.

Fleury has been tremendous during camp and is still on the roster. He could crack the opening night lineup and bring a physical, nasty edge to the blue line along with his ability to skate the puck up ice.

Brook will one day be the quarterback of the Canadiens power play, but he was sent down to the Laval Rocket. It is possible his two-way game, especially his ability to carry the puck like a speedy, playmaking center, will allow him to make his NHL debut soon.

Adding two key, impact forwards to the lineup, with a pair of young defensemen who could join the team as well makes the 2019-20 Montreal Canadiens a much better team than the one we saw in 2018-19.