The Montreal Canadiens will be in trouble if they rely on Shea Weber’s shot

The Montreal Canadiens are making the right decision in prioritizing work on the powerplay, but they’ll be in trouble if they try to rely on Shea Weber.

Of all the aspects of the Montreal Canadiens to be critiqued the most, their powerplay got a decent chunk of it. It wasn’t as if it was for no reason and wound up costing the teams wins in situations where they really needed a goal.

In the new era of the Habs, their man-advantage went from 19.7% (16-17, 13th), to 21.7% (17-18, 12th), dropping to a poor 13.3% (18-19, 30th) and 17.7% this season. It got to the point where fans would sarcastically cheer or roll their eyes whenever a ref raised their arm in favour of Montreal. There were multiple factors that were responsible for these performances, but the team’s knee-jerk reflex to set up Weber was a big part of it.

Weber’s shot has been feared for years. It’s seen a lot of goals blast past goaltenders, and even through the net on some occasions, and was recognized as being the hardest shot three times clocking in at speeds as high as 108.5 miles-per-hour.

The 34-year-old established himself as a destroyer on the powerplay having seasons in Nashville with upwards of 10, 12, and 14-goal years on the man-advantage. That continued in his first year with the Montreal Canadiens, where 12 of his 17 goals came on the powerplay.

The problem was how much the Habs relied on his shot in special team situations. Whenever anyone got the puck, they were looking for Shea Weber.

Jonathan Drouin, has it on the left? Look for Shea Weber. Max Domi is looking for cycle options along the wall? Look for Shea Weber. Tomas Tatar or Jordan Weal wind up with the puck in the bumper spot for a split second? Look for Shea Weber.