Montreal Canadiens: Jordan Harris deserves a bigger role

The Montreal Canadiens should keep trying to make some changes to the team’s lineup night in and night out. Habs head coach Martin St. Louis cannot be afraid to spice things up and make changes to the line combinations as well as the special teams’ units.

When it comes to the Montreal Canadiens special teams, there is work to be done. The power play units need to be revamped and hopefully re-tooled with new strategies to be more effective.

With Chris Wideman still finding his way into the powerplay units, it’s hard to see a reason not to put Jordan Harris into one of those units. To this point, Harris has looked solid. While Kaiden Guhle got off to a phenomenal start, looking like he can handle the NHL game well, Harris has reasons to like him as well.

Harris may not be lighting up the scoresheet night after night, but there is reason to like his performance so far, even with just one assist to his credit. The Habs’ defense core is young; they have been relying on players to learn and continue developing on the fly.

While there may be some veterans on the way when Mike Matheson and Joel Edmundson eventually return from the Injured Reserve (IR), the young defense core continues to make do with the players they have.

The Montreal Canadiens need to keep trusting Jordan Harris.

Harris, who made his debut in 2021-22, has looked good in 2022-23. He’s been very calm back there for the Habs. He has shown off some serious poise with the puck. But given some of his interviews, he has shown a really calm and mature presence off the ice as well.

While TV interviews and an NHL forechecker baring down on you during an attempted breakout bring vastly different levels of pressure… there’s something to be said about Harris and his performance. It just seems like Harris carries himself as an easygoing and mellow personality.

He brings that personality to his performance on the ice, and it pays off for him. He’s made some great decisions when the puck is on his stick. He’s also played only 18 career NHL games, so he’s going to make mistakes at times, but overall he has been great so far.

It’s not to insinuate that he’s making every decision correctly and not making mistakes, but Harris has looked good so far. Harris has an assist to his credit through eight games this season and is plus-three for the Habs in 2022-23.

The bottom line is Harris deserves a more prominent role with the defense core. He deserves chances with the teams’ powerplay units. Circling back…

There is no reason to keep Wideman on the powerplay units. Give Harris his chance. He’s shown that he can remain in control and stay calm with the puck on his stick. Let him anchor things up top on a powerplay unit, aiming to create scoring chances for a shooter.

With how poorly the powerplay is performing to this point, Harris being added to one of the units, revamping things might just be a remedy. The Habs should be happy with Harris’s performance to this point, and he’s been exceptional.