The Montreal Canadiens are still looking to solidify the left side of their defense and with an albeit small sample size, Gustav Olofsson does not appear to be fitting the mold. A swap with Otto Leskinen may benefit both players.
Due to Victor Mete going down with an injury and being out for a minimum of two weeks, the Montreal Canadiens are left with another void on their left side on an already weak defense.
Brett Kulak has been struggling for most of the games he’s played and his confidence appears to be dwindling due to often being scratched. This is surprising considering how well Kulak played when he was called up from the Rocket during the 2018-19 season and exhibited great vision and decision-making.
Mike Reilly does alright in the offensive zone but when given the puck anywhere else, he struggles with it and has a penchant for giving it away to the opposition. His play without the puck has never been a strong point.
One bright spot has been the play of UFA signing Ben Chiarot who has been playing some of the best hockey in his career as of late while also setting personal records in terms of ice time given to him (30:47 against the Islanders).
If the Montreal Canadiens plan on building on the momentum of their win against the New York Islanders on Tuesday night, they will have to find a way to sort out their defensive issues.
They took a step in the right direction by swapping recent call-up Gustav Olofsson with Otto Leskinen. The latter has been having a great season so far with the Laval Rocket.
Leskinen is an upgrade over Olofsson who was more of a lateral call-up that barely moved the needle in the three games he has played. Olofsson quickly appeared to have lost the trust of head coach Claude Julien given the fact that he was benched for most of the game against the Islanders after some tough mistakes. This was confirmed when he was sent down to Laval.
Calling up Otto Leskinen increases the chances of having better defense from someone other than Jeff Petry, Shea Weber and Ben Chiarot. It also increase the chances of getting some offense from the left side, something the team will need while they wait for Victor Mete to return.
Having watched Otto Leskinen play several games for the Laval Rocket, he is noticeably better than either Mike Reilly or Gustav Olofsson and will be able to eat up some minutes alongside rookie Cale Fleury.
Leskinen’s skating is an improvement over the other defensemen tried on the third pairing so moving the puck up the ice will become easier, allowing the forwards to get more chances in the offensive zone with less chances of turnovers occurring.
If Otto Leskinen is a healthy scratch, it would be a mistake for them to try and put Mike Reilly back in the lineup over the rookie. Reilly just does not appear to fit in with their style of play and is a liability in the defensive zone.
The Canadiens made a smart decision by calling up Leskinen. There is not much point putting Reilly back in the lineup when you know he is not good enough defensively to be trusted on the ice. Pairing a couple of rookies together, especially on defence can be risky.
However, Leskinen and Fleury are both more reliable defensively than the veteran options the Canadiens have. Julien shouldn’t hesitate to trust these young players together.