Montreal Canadiens: 7 Talking Points
1. Luxury 7th Defenceman
This week’s 7 talking points were a little bit tougher to find than last week’s were; the Habs played just a single game and Cole Caufield was held pointless against a powerhouse Michigan team. So I had to do a little bit of digging, I found some interesting storylines nonetheless!
First up is the Canadiens’ defensive depth. While I am of the mind that the Canadiens defence has been slightly less than stellar through 15 games, the depth is there. There really isn’t a huge gap in quality between the third defenceman on the depth-chart (Chiarot) and the seventh (Mete). While this is indicative of the current lack of high-end quality on the left side of the defence, it also speaks to the abundance of decent players further down the depth chart.
Now, I designated Mete as the seventh defenceman despite his phenomenal performance against the Maple Leafs last week because he has lacked consistency in his limited playing time this season. I thought he looked quite good in the game he played with Brett Kulak, but extremely shaky in his first game of the season against the Canucks alongside Alexander Romanov. I assume and hope he gets the nod on Saturday considering how good he was a week ago, but he needs to show a bit more to take Kulak’s spot going forward.
I have quite appreciated Kulak’s play since the bubble, I even wrote an article praising his performances in the playoffs, and I do believe he would be just as effective alongside Jeff Petry as Joel Edmundson has been. Still, if Mete can maintain the level of play he showed last weekend, he has a spot in this lineup. If Mete can be similarly reliable defensively to Kulak, he should get the nod, because he brings two elements to the table that the Canadiens’ defensive corps lacks: speed and mobility.
No defenceman in the Canadiens’ organization is quicker than Mete and, while Romanov and Petry are quick and mobile, Weber, Chiarot and Edmundson are not, though it should be noted that Chiarot is by far the most mobile of the latter bunch. Mete makes things happen, and so does Romanov; if deployed correctly at even strength those two could wreak havoc on the opposition’s bottom lines and pairing.
Kulak is no slouch either though, he is reliable defensively despite having taken too many avoidable minor penalties this season. Both he and Mete deserve a spot on an NHL lineup. That the Canadiens get to leave one of the two in the press box on any given game day is nothing short of a luxury.
2. Potential Laval call-ups
Speaking of the defensive depth chart… Now, hopefully, no player currently plying their trade with the Laval Rocket will need to be called up for NHL game time, but the Habs would need to get very lucky for that to occur. Xavier Ouellet will be the first call-up on the backend; he played alright in the bubble last summer and didn’t look all that out of place in a playoff environment. Cale Fleury should be the next one up, and I would argue that he would deserve to be the first call-up, ahead of Ouellet.
Fleury has been incredibly reliable in the AHL and distinguishes himself through his physical play, though he has committed to less and less risky hits that could lead to odd-man rushes; he’s maturing as a hockey player. The third slot for potential call-ups is tougher to determine. Gustav Olofsson has played in 59 NHL games and has been quite decent in Laval; however, due to previous injuries he largely refrains from physical play, and could therefore be far less effective in the big leagues.
Therefore, I would pick Otto Leskinen as the third defensive call-up. Leskinen played five games with the Habs last season and struggled. However, he has a toolset that is quite intriguing. He’s an offensive defenceman; he put up 10 points in 17 games in the Finnish Liiga this offseason. At the very least, he would add an interesting dynamic to the Canadiens defence if his services are required.
At forward, the first two players to be slotted into the lineup if injuries do occur are Corey Perry and Michael Frolik; after those two, Jordan Weal comes to mind as the next replacement. Beyond Weal, however, there is no longer an immediately obvious candidate. Lukas Vejdemo, Joe Blandisi and Ryan Poehling have all seen NHL action. I would personally like to leave Poehling in the AHL for the entirety of the season. Last year, he jumped back and forth between leagues, to the detriment of his development.
I would personally like to see Yannick Veilleux get some NHL action since he has never seen any before and has worked his way from the ECHL to a fringe role in the AHL to first-line duties; it’s a nice storyline. He’s a pretty big winger with a nose for the net and while his skating isn’t great, I think he could do a decent job on a fourth line.
Still, Vejdemo’s faceoff expertise and Blandisi’s 101 games of NHL action (where he’s notched 10 goals and 31 points) would be the likely candidates. To be honest, the depth at forward this season, in terms of players that could conceivably do a decent job on the fourth line, is really comforting. Even if the Habs are ravaged by injuries at forward *knock on wood that doesn’t happen* they should still be able to roll four lines and not need to make huge changes to their system.
3. Tough Schedule
While Habs fans – myself included – are impatiently awaiting puck-drop on Saturday since the team has not played in a week, this will not be an issue going forward. The Canadiens will instead have an extremely gruelling schedule, so keeping players – and goaltenders especially – fresh will be of great importance.
The Habs will play their remaining 41 scheduled games in the span of just 78 days; that’s more than a game every two nights, there will certainly be plenty of hockey to watch. In this span, the team will have two days between games just twice and three days between games once, which falls in the final week of the season; all other games are separated by one day or by none. The team’s depth throughout the lineup and the rolling of forward lines and defensive pairings will be critical in avoiding exhaustion.
It is from this point onward that Marc Bergevin’s investment in Jake Allen will pay its dividends. There will 7 back-to-backs in the upcoming months and plenty more occasions where the team plays three games in five days. Don’t be too surprised if Price and Allen share the workload evenly between now and the trade deadline. Carey Price must remain fresh for this team to have a shot at a deep playoff run, and, so far at least, Jake Allen has been more than good enough in alleviating Price’s workload.
4. Paul Byron’s place on the team
I’ve always appreciated Paul Byron’s style of play. He is defensively responsible, capable of scoring goals, has blazing speed and is great on the penalty kill. He is a player any team would gladly take. And yet, he went unclaimed on waivers… because of that damned cap hit. $3.4 million for two years beyond this season is far from immovable if it is joined with a decent player, and it would not be a concern if it weren’t for the flat cap.
Byron has not been the same player since the concussion he suffered at the hands of Mackenzie Weegar in a fight in March 2019. He has not been good enough this season. He has lost half a step, but still remains one of the quickest players on the team; the problem is that he has rarely made good use of his speed this season. He did so on the Jake Evans goal against Vancouver in the 7-3 win, but no other examples spring to mind. I also don’t think he has had a single breakaway this season, which is unusual for Byron.
Despite this, however, I still have him pencilled onto the fourth line every night. Even a struggling Paul Byron is an effective NHLer. Equally importantly, Byron fits the fourth line perfectly stylistically. The Canadiens’ fourth line is built on its speed and the pressure their speed can facilitate. Therefore, Byron is far more effective on the line than Corey Perry is; even though Perry has outplayed Byron this season, he shouldn’t take Byron’s spot in my opinion. Merit should certainly be an important factor in making lineups, but stylistic fits and chemistry should not be ignored.
This is not to say that I would be averse to trading Byron, though. Moving his contract would go a long way in aiding this team’s cap situation in the short term. If a trade can be worked out with, say, Ottawa, where the Habs add a little bit of incentive for the Senators to bring the hometown boy to the capital, I think Bergevin should pull the trigger. A player like Michael Grabner, who is renowned for his speed and penalty-killing prowess, is still a free agent and could be a good replacement for Byron at a far lower cap hit.
To recap, I like Paul Byron and I think he has a spot in the lineup as the team is currently constructed, but he is the 12th best forward on the team and his cap hit gives him a negative trade value. I would feel much more comfortable with the team’s cap structure with him out of the organization but will continue to appreciate the small things he does right every game for as long as he remains a Hab.
5. Raphael Harvey-Pinard
If you have yet to watch a Laval Rocket game, I encourage you to do so. They play tonight at 7:00 PM EST and the game will be televised on RDS. I’ve watched all of the Rocket’s first three games and without a doubt, the most impressive player has been Raphael Harvey-Pinard. Three games is a tiny sample size and streaks and slumps are inevitable for first-year pros, but this kid is fun to watch; tuning into a Rocket game is worthwhile just to watch this one 7th round pick alone if you ask me.
The 5’9″ 22-year-old winger plays a tenacious game and constantly makes things happen. Joel Bouchard said in an interview yesterday that had Harvey-Pinard gotten some luck, he’d already have potted 3 or 4 goals in 3 games, and it’s hard to disagree. Given his playstyle and his stature, the comparisons to Brendan Gallagher were bound to be made at some point, and that point is now. He does not have Gallagher’s nose for the dirty areas right around the net but he does have a similar work ethic and a deceptively dangerous wrist shot.
From what I’ve seen in these few games, he is the most NHL-ready of the organization’s prospects currently playing in Laval with the notable exceptions of Cale Fleury and Ryan Poehling. Harvey-Pinard was a 7th round pick in his third and final year of draft eligibility and could very well be another steal late in the draft for the Habs’ scouting team. He does only have one goal and no assists in three games, but anyone who has watched the games would tell you he has been consistently great in those games. Keep an eye on this kid, he’s fun to watch.
6. Joel Teasdale
Joel Teasdale had an interesting week. He had a phenomenal professional debut. He notched a great assist on Laval’s first goal of the season: he outworked a Belleville defenceman along the boards and powered his way behind the net before teeing up Xavier Ouellet at the point, who scored. Teasdale followed that up with a nice goal later in the game; he brought the puck to the slot and fired home a screened shot.
Teadale’s second game was good if unspectacular, while his third was “tough” according to his coach, Joel Bouchard. Bouchard also mentioned that Teasdale had said that the pace of the game was getting to him, which is fully understandable since Teasdale had not played in almost two years; his last competitive games were during the Memorial Cup he won alongside Harvey-Pinard, beating out Prince Albert, Halifax and a Guelph Storm led by a certain Nick Suzuki.
With time, Teasdale will get his fitness level back up to the necessary standard. He is also a player with a very interesting toolkit. He plays a gritty and physical style and is an effective net-front presence, something the Canadiens don’t have in abundance. If Teasdale progresses as many think he will, he will eventually forge a spot on an NHL lineup. It may take time, however, he still is just 21 years old, five months older than Nick Suzuki.
As Teasdale and the Rocket have had a few days off since their previous game, I have a feeling the Repentigny native will play a high-energy and physical game tonight against Belleville.
7. This week’s games
The Habs will play 4 games in the next week. On Saturday, they will face the Leafs, then they’ll play the Senators on Sunday and Tuesday, before facing off against the Jets for the first time this season on Thursday. It should be expected that Carey Price will be given the Saturday night game and that Jake Allen will cover the Sunday’s contest. Price could very well play the two following games, but I have a feeling that Allen will play again on Tuesday (playing in both Ottawa games), leaving Carey Price to get the start against Winnipeg.
The team has been in a rut recently, losing 3 of the last 5 games and scoring just 8 goals in that span. The offense will need to step up and Nick Suzuki especially. He was central to the Canadiens’ attack through the first 10 games but his rut has coincided with the team’s. For him to be the first line centre he could be in the very near future, he will need to be as dangerous offensively as he was to start the season with more consistency. It should be noted though, his defensive game has been phenomenal throughout the season.
I expect him to bounce back following this bye week and predict for him to score a goal aganst Toronto. I am also optimistic that the team will bounce back this week as well, winning 3 of their 4 games, with the sole loss coming against the Senators in the shootout. I would personally be delighted with 7 of 8 possible points, so hopefully I’m right!
If any of you have ideas for storylines for me to cover next week, feel free to leave a comment!
All statistics sourced from EliteProspects.com.