Charles Hudon has the most to gain on the Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens may not be sure where they stand with Charles Hudon, but his performance in the Play-In Round may answer some questions.

Charles Hudon and Artturi Lehkonen have similar stories on the Montreal Canadiens. Both are players who have innate skill, are hardworking, and generate a number of chances. The downside to both of them is that they’ve struggled to transition more of those chances to actual goals.

Lehkonen seemed to be taking the appropriate strides to right those wrongs before the NHL went on pause while Hudon was still struggling to produce. And if you look at his first NHL season or his numbers in the AHL, it continues to be a very odd phenomenon.

The 25-year-old had 10 goals and 10 assists for 30 points in 70 games in that debut year. The next season saw Hudon play only 32 games and put up 5 points. That trend continued on to this season, where he spent the majority of the 2019-20 campaign with the Laval Rocket. However, fans were reminded of the talent Hudon had.

In 46 games, Hudon scored 27 goals and a total of 35 points. It wasn’t the exact production he had in the past (0.76 points per game vs. 0.88 points per game), but that amount of goals is undeniable. It was an almost clean split between even strength and power-play production with a respective 13 and 14 goals in each situation.

Something interesting was Hudon’s shooting percentage didn’t waver from his last stint in the AHL firing at 16.8%.

It’s clear that Hudon is too good for the minors. He generates a solid amount of shots and can convert them into goals. The unfortunate end is he can’t seem to find his game in the NHL.

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Perhaps that’s because of Claude Julien and the system and role he puts Hudon in. He’s generally in the bottom six tasked with being an energy player. On the other hand, when he’s given a chance to play in the top six, he’s noticeable in some areas but can’t manage to get the puck past a goaltender. Hudon only scored once in his 15 games with the Montreal Canadiens, mostly starting in the offensive zone.

Hudon has the most to gain in this Play-In series. With the AHL cancelling it’s season and teams being able to add more players to their roster, Hudon could very well continue his play with the Habs. At the same time, the Montreal Canadiens have injured forwards Tomas Tatar and Jonathan Drouin returning to the lineup.

This leaves one of two options for Hudon. Either he stays on the team playing on the fourth line, or he is healthy scratched once again.

There is an extremely short leash going on here as the Habs could easily throw Ryan Poehling on left wing once the series begins. Regardless of where he plays, if Hudon gets the tap to play, he needs to do something to prove to management he is worth keeping.

The 2012 fifth-round pick is in the final year of his deal, which will see him become an RFA. There have been a number of rumours floating around of Hudon potentially heading overseas, but they’ve been disputed for the time being. If he wants to keep it that way and avoid being left unqualified, Hudon has to show the Habs something in his arsenal that they can make use of.

Is it an improved two-way game? Can he become a penalty killer? Or can he finally bring his AHL production to the Montreal Canadiens?

Hudon being one of the four to begin training, is circumstantial, seeing as he stayed in the area during quarantine, but hopefully, it can be a good start to a resurgence. The worst case scenario is the Montreal Canadiens only get three games against the Pittsburgh Penguins. And if that’s the case, Charles Hudon must make those the three best games of his NHL career.