Montreal Canadiens are in no-mans land and it’s time to make a choice

The Montreal Canadiens are in a tight spot, and it may be time for them to decide on the direction for the rest of the year.

Regardless of the new additions to the roster, the Montreal Canadiens are 3-6-1 in their last 10 games. Marco Scandella and Ilya Kovalchuk are interesting names for a team dying for some kind of positive swing, but it doesn’t change several key facts.

The Habs have only managed to add a single point to their season total with their recent overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. In their last three games, they’ve lost by one or two goals, and although Carey Price has had some blunders, the results could’ve been a lot worse.

Now the team sits with 43 points to their name and 9 points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for third in the Atlantic Division. A wild-card spot is within grasp as the Florida Panthers have the final one with 49 points, but the Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets and Buffalo Sabres are in that battle as well.

The Montreal Canadiens aren’t far enough to properly tank the season, either speaking from a position of pessimism. The Habs may be in the bottom ten of the league, but with the Detroit Red Wings and New Jersey Devils being as poor as they’ve been all year, it would be impossible to best them in that department. Additionally, having Price on your roster playing a full season makes it impossible to be that bad.

They’re in limbo, and the obvious goal is up. Tampa managed to turn their season around going 8-1-1 in their last ten while the Leafs have benefitted from the coaching change. The Habs, on the other hand, are struggling to play at their peak and have several critical injuries on their hands.

The Montreal Canadiens need some serious help from the hockey gods in the second half of the regular season. Not only are they in need of a heater, but they also need another team to fall out of the running. It looks as if just like last year, the wild-card is going to be the target. If that’s the case, March and April are going to be very interesting.

None of that matters until the Habs start to gain some distance on the teams ahead of them. If they continue to lose games, the trade deadline will be active for Marc Bergevin for other reasons.

There are four unrestricted free agents who may warrant Montreal some assets in Nate Thompson, Dale Weise, as well as newly acquired players Marco Scandella and Ilya Kovalchuk. If February hits and there’s no way the Montreal Canadiens make the playoffs, those players should be moved, and it’ll be time for Habs fans to start researching the draft.

That’s the worst-case scenario, though. There isn’t a lot of it, but the Montreal Canadiens have time to find something. But they’re letting the rest of the Eastern Conference decide their fate with every regulation loss.

Make a choice: will you dig in and win or continue to fall?