The Montreal Canadiens have been going through an identity crisis in this retool, and it’s clear they still aren’t sure about the team’s makeup.
‘Culture’ is a polarizing word when it comes to the Montreal Canadiens. ‘Culture’ was seen as the culprit for their shortcomings by management, and it later turned into ‘Attitude.’ The transition to improving that saw players such as Max Pacioretty, P.K. Subban and Alex Galchenyuk while Jonathan Drouin, Shea Weber and Max Domi were brought in their stead. However, things didn’t change.
We learned via an Eric Engels mailbag that owner Geoff Molson and Marc Bergevin agreed to start a retool after the 2017-18 season that saw them finish fourth-last in the league. That resulted in Jesperi Kotkaniemi being taken third overall via a lottery win while Alexander Romanov was taken in the second round. The Habs were also able to add Nick Suzuki via the Pacioretty deal, further improving their prospect cupboards.
Since then, the Habs have had Kotkaniemi play a full season in the NHL while Suzuki established himself as a top-six centre this year. The team also had glimpses of 2017 first-round pick Ryan Poehling, a breakout training camp from 2017 third-round pick Cale Fleury and saw 2017 seventh-round pick Cayden Primeau start two games.
That’s what you want to see from a retool. You want to see those draft picks, turn prospect be giving an opportunity and slowly added into the lineup to replace the veterans who have already hit their season. At the same time, it lets those prospects know that they are part of the future.