Canadiens: Three Possible Scenarios At The Blue Line
Kent Hughes is currently on a media tour in Montreal. The Canadiens‘ General Manager has surprised many as he has been interviewed in both French and English and started revealing his offseason plans as we first stare down the lottery draft which will take place May 10th.
One topic that has garnered some attention is the present situation at the blue line. It was a tumultuous time for the Canadiens’ defensive corp and we’re all curious to see how it could shape up in the near future.
Hughes says he loves the young players at the back end such as Jordan Harris and Justin Barron. Kaiden Guhle, who is currently been nothing short of dominant in the WHL playoffs so far, is almost a shoe-in to start the year in Montreal. Arber Xhekaj has also garnered the respect of Hughes and company.
With Jeff Petry most likely gone this summer, the Canadiens find themselves in an interesting position where they can go in nearly any direction regarding the makup of their defence.
Here are three scenarios they can consider.
The Canadiens showed us a few very interesting young defenders this past season. Justin Barron, Jordan Harris, Corey Schueneman and even Kale Clague have shown signs of promise.
You get 8 defenceman travelling with the team and can spread games out easily with the following pairings:
Romanov-Barron
Edmundson-Savard
Guhle/Harris-Schueneman/Clague
The top 4 can easily be interchangeable. You go with who’s playing best and you see who has the best chemistry. That being said, if you’re going to let the young players play then you need to let Romanov and Barron play the bulk of minutes, all while leaving Edmundson and Savard to play at their own level.
Barron is our best prospect on the right side of the blue line and if his foot heals up nicely this summer and he comes into training camp with confidence, his spot is his to lose. You’re risking of over-exposing him by giving him top pairing minutes, but you gotta go with what you have.
The third pairing could be an interesting situation since you have four players eyeing a spot. Both Schueneman and Clague have shown to be reliable on both sides of the ice, while Kaiden Guhle and Jordan Harris would split time in order to gain NHL experience an even level.
If Guhle and Harris progress quickly and show their true potential, Joel Edmundson suddenly can become expendable and your left side of Romanov, Guhle and Harris suddenly becomes stable for years to come.
One of the best stories of last season is a story that barely got any recognition.
Lost in the exploits of Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki, Alexander Romanov played his sophomore season in the NHL and despite everything crumbling around him, he had a very solid season playing in 79 games. The young Russian defender has consistently played over 20 minutes a game and has elevated his game on many levels.
Romanov will likely be the Canadiens’ top defender until either Kaiden Guhle or someone else dethrones him.
However, with the right side being a little thin with only David Savard and likely Justin Barron as the only sure bets, what if Romanov as moved on the right side? It’s something that all coaches from Claude Julien, Dominique Ducharme and Martin St. Louis has experimented with.
Personally, I like Romanov a lot better on the left side, but he has shifted from one side to the other his entire playing career.
Edmundson-Romanov
Guhle-Savard
Harris-Barron
Schueneman/Clague
So in this scenario, the team won’t be forced to over-expose Barron on a top pairing. Furthermore, having Romanov on the right side means Guhle and Harris can play full time and thus having a set defensive roster. Schueneman and Clague remain spares.
Only fools never change their minds. As unlikely as this scenario is, it might be a possibility that the Canadiens use next season to let some of their young defenders develop in Laval first before making the big jump.
Romanov-Savard
Edmundson-Free Agent
Free Agent-Wideman
This scenario will likely only work if some extra salary other than Jeff Petry were to be unloaded. Wideman would return and you’d need a pair of cheap defenders from free agency. Furthermore, this is the approach the team could take if they decide to let the younger players thrive in Laval and let the older players go through another losing season in order to have a chance at Connor Bedard.
That being said, Hughes went on record saying that he wants the best environment for every player. So having rookies play 82 games in the NHL off the bat doesn’t seem like the best option at this time.
"Our priority will be to put our youngsters in the right environment to develop. Bringing in three rookies to play on our defensive brigade for a full 82-games is not a risk we're going to take." - Kent Hughes
— Marco D'Amico (@mndamico) May 7, 2022
He'll play NHL games for sure, but don't expect him to stay all year.
The Laval Rocket however, would be stacked at the blue line with a myriad of combinations to chose from: Guhle, Barron, Harris, Schueneman, Clague, Josh Brooks, Mattias Norlinder, Arber Xhekaj.
If our current pool of defensive prospects develop as they should, the Canadiens’ defence can become an exciting bunch.
Romanov-Barron
Guhle-Norlinder
Harris-Xhekaj
OR
Guhle-Romanov
Norlinder-Barron
Harris-Xhekaj
OR
Guhle-Barron
Romanov-Norlinder
Harris-Xhekaj
OR…
OR…
OR…
So many possibilities.
If they were to all attain their full potential, we’d have a massive blue line that also has a rare combination of speed, agility and offensive flair.
This is of course a best case scenario as things could easily change with time. However, it’s been a while since we’ve had multiple exciting prospects in the defensive pipeline.
What do you think the Canadiens’ approach with the blue line should be? Comment below!
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