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Montreal Canadiens: 7 Talking Points

By Sebastian High

MONTREAL, QC - MARCH 02: Goaltender Carey Price #31 (L) and Nick Suzuki #14 of the Montreal Canadiens (R) stand during the national anthem prior to the game against the Ottawa Senators at the Bell Centre on March 2, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Ottawa Senators 3-1. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - MARCH 02: Goaltender Carey Price #31 (L) and Nick Suzuki #14 of the Montreal Canadiens (R) stand during the national anthem prior to the game against the Ottawa Senators at the Bell Centre on March 2, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Ottawa Senators 3-1. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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MONTREAL, QC – MARCH 02: Tyler Toffoli #73 of the Montreal Canadiens celebrates his empty net goal with teammate Brendan Gallagher #11 during the third period against the Ottawa Senators at the Bell Centre on March 2, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Ottawa Senators 3-1. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC – MARCH 02: Tyler Toffoli #73 of the Montreal Canadiens celebrates his empty net goal with teammate Brendan Gallagher #11 during the third period against the Ottawa Senators at the Bell Centre on March 2, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Ottawa Senators 3-1. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

1. Right-Wing Depth

Heading into the offseason, the team’s depth at right wing was a concern. In the bubble, the Habs only had three right-wingers on their roster: Brendan Gallagher, Joel Armia and Dale Weise. At the start of the 2021 season, the Canadiens clearly had one of the best groups of right-wingers in the league. Now, nearly halfway through this 56-game season, I feel relatively confident in saying that the Canadiens have the best right-wing depth in the league.

It should be noted that I am specifically speaking of the best right-wing depth rather than the most valuable right-wing corps in the league. Toronto has a one-two punch of Mitch Marner and William Nylander that easily trumps the Habs’ top-2 right-wingers on skill and game-breaking ability alone. Toronto does not, however, have Montreal’s depth at the position. Note that I am writing this piece prior to Saturday’s rematch against the Flames, so the statistics will invariably change a little bit, but the conclusions they draw should remain valid.

Tyler Toffoli has had a phenomenal start in the Tricolore, leading all right-wingers in the league with 15 goals on the season, and while he has almost exclusively been playing on the left-wing, he is a right-winger by trade. Josh Anderson and Brendan Gallagher each have 10 goals, tied for 12th in the league in goals among natural right-wingers. Joel Armia and Corey Perry have both notched 5 goals in 19 games, which ties them for 43rd in the league among natural right-wingers.

Of the 56 right-wingers in the league to have scored at least 5 goals this season, 5 are on the Habs; that’s pretty good! Unfortunately, the goalscoring prowess of the Canadiens’ right-wingers has not been replicated by the centremen or left-wingers.

At the time of writing, the Habs have scored 85 goals. 45 of those goals were scored by the 5 aforementioned right-wingers. The four centremen on the roster have combined for just 11 goals and the four left-wingers have equalled that tally. The right-wingers have more than doubled the goals scored by the centremen and left-wingers combined. There is of course the caveat of Tyler Toffoli playing on the left-wing all season, which singlehandedly skews this whole stat-line.

It should also be noted that the three natural scorers playing in the Habs’ top-9 are all right-wingers, while the centremen and left-wingers are playmakers first and foremost, so the goals will naturally come from the right-wing. Still, I find it interesting how reliant this team is on goals being scored by the right-wingers or Jeff Petry.

Considering how strong the team is in scoring from the right-wing, it will be interesting to keep an eye on the team’s top two forward prospects, who just so happen to be right-shot right-wingers, in Cole Caufield and Jesse Ylonen. Both could make the team in training camp next year and they are both known for their wicked shots and finishing ability. A little more on Caufield later…

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