Canadiens’ Current Weakness Can Soon Become Envy Of NHL
During the Canadiens’ Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup finals in 2021, Dominique Ducharme and company ran an effective, although at times questionable, four man defensive system. Shea Weber, Ben Chiarot, Joel Edmundson and Jeff Petry would play the bulk of the games, while Brett Kulak and Jon Merrill would at times barely see five minutes of ice time.
A high speed and hard nosed trap system backed up by a rejuvenated Carey Price helped shock the entire league and paved the way to a surprising trip the Finals. It was indeed fun while it lasted.
This past season we saw more holes than a block of swiss cheese at the blue line. The system was in shambles, the players were disorganized and discouraged and the team played without their captain all year and one of their leaders in Joel Edmundson for most of the season as well.
We’ll avoid talking about Jeff Petry who John Wiens accurately pointed out that it took him about 78 games to realize the season had started.
While there’s nothing really enviable about the current crop at the blue line, the prospect of what it can look like in the near future is quite exciting, indeed.
The main core of the Canadiens’ defense can potentially be built around Alexander Romanov, Kaiden Guhle and Justin Barron. We all know what Romanov can do and it’s almost scary to think that he hasn’t even reached his peak potential as of yet.
Kaiden Guhle is enjoying a dream season as he has recently been awarded playoff WHL MVP awards and is headed to the Memorial Cup. Local media has drawn many comparisons between Guhle and Shea Weber. I can see a little bit of that in the way he’s poised on the ice and his ability to score. Fans of a certain age might see more shades of Brian Leetch in his game.
As for Justin Barron, his short stint in the NHL has shown us that he has the confidence to make it as a regular in the show and if he puts the effort to keep working on his game, will eventually develop into another Jeff Petry type of defender.
Then there’s some interesting picks left to work with to fill the final three starting spots with, of course, an extra spot remaining for your spare.
Arber Xhekaj is someone who is pounding his way towards the NHL and has not stopped working his tail off hoping for a chance to make it to training camp. There’s no reason this young stud will not make it on the Laval Rocket starting roster next season and if he can just keep working on his skating, can potentially be an absolute terrorizing threat to go through in the NHL.
Jordan Harris of course is another player who showed promising signs in his short NHL debut last season. A very intelligent player who already does the small things correctly. I was impressed as to how smooth he looked and how he managed to stand his own despite being an undersized defender.
Quick Recap
So if the Canadiens were to focus solely with what they have in their hands, this is what a potential starting lineup would look like at the blue line.
Guhle-Romanov
Harris-
Xhekaj-Barron
Romanov would move to the right side where he has shown that he is comfortable and for those that have forgotten, is where he has actually played most of his junior years. Having him paired with Guhle could have a great balance and have two big minutes eaters.
Oh the blank beside Harris? Well it could be interpreted in three different ways. Either the Canadiens will draft another elite defenceman, or they sign a free agent or they give a chance and attempt to fully develop their best defensive prospect after Kaiden Guhle.
Logan Mailloux
Yup. Like it or not, Mailloux is that good. Currently invited to spend the summer in Montreal at the Quartexx offices where his agent works, and also where Kent Hughes used to work, Mailloux will be rehabbing his surgically repaired shoulder in La Belle Province. The 2021 1st round pick for the Canadiens has shown flashes of brilliance in his short season in 2021-22 that simply cannot be ignored. While his mobility and physicality still requires some work, he has an incredible shot and eye for the game. He has a presence on the ice that cannot be ignored and certain shifts has him seem so confident that he looks like an NHL player already.
Bottom Line
Things will likely change. We don’t know who will come and go between now and then. We’re still unsure of the ceiling of guys like Mattias Norlinder or Dmitri Kostenko or William Trudeau. Louie Belpedio might come out of nowhere or Corey Schueneman might suddenly decide he’s the guy who’s gonna take over the right side of the second pairing.
That’s the beauty of evaluating prospects. Nothing truly goes the way you think it will. One thing’s for sure though, the Canadiens haven’t had this much talent in their defensive pipeline in a long time.
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light. Related Story. How Can The Canadiens Move Up In The Draft?