Montreal Canadiens Awful Start Shows How Much Shea Weber, Carey Price are Missed

The Montreal Canadiens were a mediocre regular season team for the past couple of years.

They were definitely not a terrific team, and also not a bottom feeder. The problem was they alternated looking like one or the other. The result was a middling team in the standings, but they would have runs where they looked unbeatable followed by stretches where they looked awful.

Then, last season, it finally all came together for an extended period in the postseason.

The Habs were supposed to lose quickly in the first round, and many would have said they were lucky to get that far. But they didn’t lose. They beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games. They swept the Winnipeg Jets in four straight and beat the Vegas Golden Knights in six contests.

So, maybe they were good after all?

There is no question about their ability this season. The team started 0-5-0 with just four goals scored and quickly saw their record drop to 3-8-0 with a pair of wins over the Detroit Red Wings.

It is pretty clear that they are not good this season. So what changed?

Well, a lot in the offseason. Gone are Phillip Danault, Tomas Tatar, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Corey Perry, and Eric Staal up front. They were replaced by Mike Hoffman, Christian Dvorak, and Cedric Paquette as well as the return of Jonathan Drouin who missed the entire playoffs.

When you factor in Danault and Kotkaniemi scored five goals each last season and Tatar was a healthy scratch for most of the playoffs, it looked like the Canadiens were a much dangerous offensive team up front.

The blue line saw a couple of big changes with Shea Weber announcing he will miss the entire season. The Habs also lost depth pickups Jon Merrill and Erik Gustafsson to free agency.

They have also had to deal with the absence of Joel Edmundson and Carey Price to begin this season. They are still on the team, just not playing right now as they deal with their own personal situations.

David Savard was brought in to fill the Weber void and Sami Niku and Chris Wideman were signed to add depth on the blue line. Also, Samuel Montembeault was claimed off waivers to add goaltending depth with Price out for the first month.

The glaring differences were the absence of Shea Weber and Carey Price.

For the past couple of seasons, many fans felt Weber and Price were past their primes, officially overpaid and not able to contribute like they once did at the NHL level. Essentially, many felt the Habs were stuck with two aging players on enormous contracts.

Then came last year’s postseason. Weber averaged over 25 minutes per night and Price posted a 2.28 GAA and a .924 SV% as the Canadiens made a run to the Stanley Cup Final.

If the playoffs weren’t enough to prove how valuable Weber and Price still were just a few short months ago, the start of this season makes it even more obvious.

While the Canadiens lost a couple of key forwards in the offseason, their replacements should have made up for the lost production. The big change was the loss of Weber from the top pairing, as well as Price being out.

Without their two key veterans, this team looks completely lost to begin this season. They fall behind often and can never find a way back into a game. They have started many games poorly and just spin their wheels trying to find any cohesion. There are many talented players on the roster, but they just can’t seem to find chemistry.

Jeff Petry played very well in Weber’s absence in the past, but has really struggled with the heightened expectations this season with Weber out for the whole year.

Allen filled in admirably for Price last season and has proven to be a great backup. He has played more than any other goaltender this season and has allowed five goals on three separate occasions. Allen has been really good on many nights, but didn’t sign here expecting to lead the league in minutes played.

Though they were taken for granted a bit and not appreciated during the past couple of regular seasons,  Shea Weber and Carey Price proved to be key parts of a Stanley Cup Finalist a few months ago.

Without those two key players, the Canadiens are completely lost and are one of the worst teams in the entire NHL.