Montreal Canadiens: Why the Habs Should Take One Step Back Next Year On Purpose

The Montreal Canadiens made a run to the Stanley Cup Final this season. In a 31 team league, that is no small feat and is something worth celebrating.

The team had its ups and downs throughout the season, but was originally built with the postseason in mind and they proved to be up for that challenge. They took out Stanley Cup contenders in the Toronto Maple Leafs, Vegas Golden Knights and Winnipeg Jets before bowing out to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

It was a surprising run, but one that would normally motivate a team to use the offseason to try and push themselves over the top.

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Perhaps the Canadiens shouldn’t do that. Maybe, especially with the news that Shea Weber is going to be out for the entire season, they should take one purposeful step backwards next season. I’m not suggesting a full blown rebuild, or even a noticeable retool or readjustment or whatever catchphrase NHL GMs are using these days.

All I am suggesting is, instead of using the added cap space from Weber’s absence to fill that void on the blue line with another veteran, maybe the Canadiens should just make more room for their prospects.

In addition to Weber likely missing all of next season, it sounds like Phillip Danault is going to hit the free agent market. The Habs also have pending unrestricted free agents in Tomas Tatar, Corey Perry, Eric Staal, Joel Armia, and trade deadline pickups Erik Gustafsson and Jon Merrill.

Losing Weber and Danault give the Canadiens huge holes to fill. Losing a number of quality veterans on top of that, including Tatar who has been one of the team’s top scorers for the past three seasons, and it will be difficult to replicate the team’s success from this season.

To this point, Marc Bergevin has not traded away a first round draft pick since he joined the Canadiens organization in 2012. He also hasn’t added one. He has taken a slow, cautious approach and though the team went on a deep run, their best chance at sustained success is by building around their youngest pieces and not necessarily counting on players in their 30s to have big years in the next couple of seasons.

Maybe next year should be that transition year for the Canadiens.

Instead of Brendan Gallagher, Danault and Tatar leading the way in even strength ice time, it should be Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. Allow those two players to play huge minutes every night next season to bring their games to an elite level.

Ensure Jesperi Kotkaniemi plays a huge role mostly as a second line centre. He may have his ups and downs again but he needs to figure out a way to work through them and continue to battle on every shift. He has come a long way already in that area, but why not allow him the chance to play second line minutes every night next season.

Instead of replacing Danault with another veteran centre, allow young middle men Jake Evans and Ryan Poehling to battle each other for third line ice time. Evans looked great defensively this season but didn’t pile up much offence. Can he score more if given more consistent ice time? Figure it out next year.

Is Poehling ready for a full time NHL role after a terrific AHL season with the Laval Rocket? Probably, but the question is, can he handle a third line role and play defensive minutes with players like Artturi Lehkonen and Paul Byron in a shutdown role? If so, that’s huge asset, but if not they need to find the right role for him. Work that out next season.

Speaking of the Laval Rocket, youngsters Jesse Ylonen, Joel Teasdale, Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Cayden Primeau looked ready to take the next step. Instead of signing a bunch of depth veterans to play fourth line roles, make room for a fourth line of Teasdale, Evans or Poehling and Harvey-Pinard.

I’m not suggesting these forwards need to be given huge roles, or even play every game. But keeping a fourth line winger spot open for them to audition could have a huge benefit for the young wingers down the road.

Also, this is not to suggest the Canadiens should trade away all their veteran forwards. In fact, they definitely shouldn’t. Keeping Tyler Toffoli, Gallagher, Josh Anderson, Lehkonen and Byron around to mentor and lead the younger players is imperative, but the veterans should take on a slightly smaller role.

The idea is to give younger players an opportunity to step up and show what they can do. If the Canadiens are going to go on another deep playoff run it won’t be because Gallagher and Anderson are leading the way offensively. Future success hinges on Suzuki, Caufield and Kotkaniemi becoming core pieces and great two-way players.

On defence, a similar approach should be taken. Instead of investing big money in a veteran to try and fill Weber’s skates, maybe just leave room for Alexander Romanov to play more. The Canadiens lost Noah Juulsen on waivers this season and don’t want to do the same with Cale Fleury next season, so give him a shot on the third pairing.

They may even want to consider trading Ben Chiarot whose value will never be higher than it is right now. He played a pivotal role on the blue line for a team that went to the Stanley Cup Final, and only costs $3.5 million against the cap. Teams would be lining up to acquire Chiarot if he were made available at the NHL Draft.

It would leave the team a little thin on the blue line, but Romanov playing top four minutes every night, and Fleury getting a full season at the NHL level would be invaluable experience for the young defensemen. Add in Jordan Harris after his college season ends, and the fact Mattias Norlinder will be landing in the NHL in time for the 2022-23 season and the Canadiens could quickly have a very young, fast, skilled and heavy hitting blue line.

The Canadiens could add a couple of veterans next season and push the young guys down the depth chart again. They could try to chase what they almost got this year, except without captain and leader Shea Weber.

Or, they could take one step back next season and really allow this to become the team led by Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Alexander Romanov. It would lead to a shorter playoff run next season for sure, and maybe they would miss the 2022 playoff altogether.

But, heading into 2022-23 with all of their young players firmly entrenched into big roles. A supporting cast of Toffoli, Gallagher, Anderson, and Joel Edmundson. Carey Price and Jeff Petry still playing important roles, but a pipeline of defenders on the verge of taking over and Cayden Primeau the eventual successor in goal.

That would be a dangerous team for years to come. That is what Marc Bergevin has been building toward when he was so busy at the past three NHL Drafts. A run to the Stanley Cup Final shouldn’t change his focus. One step back next year would lead to a giant leap forward for the rest of the decade.