Montreal Canadiens teams have not been in the position to buy at the deadline very often with Marc Bergevin at the helm. They find themselves on the fringes of playoff contention at best usually, and the deals Bergevin has made at the deadline have more often harmed than helped.
The thing is, there is a clear pattern as to why these trades do not work. The Canadiens recently have been teams with a fairly strong identity. Unfortunately, Marc Bergevin sees these identities as weaknesses, rather than strengths. And rather than getting players that strengthen the team and these identities, he gets players that seem to tear it apart.
So far, only one trade made this deadline that the player has managed to play for the Canadiens. The jury is still out for Jon Merrill and Erik Gustafsson as they still have to go through the Canadian quarantine, but Eric Staal has played some games in a Canadiens uniform.
In eight games for the Habs, Staal has scored one goal. Granted, it was an electric overtime goal that beat the goaltender clean. Other than that, it kind of seems like the trade hasn’t even happened.
Now, the Eric Staal trade is not just about scoring goals as he is hopefully being a great role model and leader for Montreal’s young centres. But still, 1 goal and no assists in 8 games is not acceptable.
This year Montreal’s team strength, as with most years recently, is speed and scoring off the rush. Something that Staal showed beautifully in the previously mentioned overtime.
However, generally there isn’t as much time and space as there is in three-on-three overtime, and Staal is too old and slow to create those opportunities in regular play. Jake Evans doesn’t have the experience, but has arguably played better and has a stronger role on the penalty kill.
This is not the first time that something like this has happened. Let me introduce you to the 2017 trade deadline.