Canadiens: Biggest Disappointments of the 2022-23 Season

A couple days ago, I wrote an article detailing the players who surprised the most for the Canadiens this past season. If you missed the biggest surprises article, you can read it here. But now it’s time to discuss the players who disappointed this season, for which I would say there were only a few. But before we begin, I must clarify what is considered a disappointing season.

Every season, players have expectations laid upon them based on what’s expected from the team and how that player has performed in the past. For instance, Nick Suzuki has shown he’s more than capable of reaching the 60-point plateau and leading the charge for the Canadiens. Anything less than that would likely be considered disappointing. However, for the purpose of this article, I’m making an exception for injuries.

Injuries are tough to control, especially on the Montreal Canadiens, so I won’t hold it against a player for missing time. Instead, I’ll only be grading them for their on-ice performance. So, a player like Sean Monahan, who unfortunately missed most of the season, won’t be included because he was good when he did play.

Fortunately for the Canadiens, I would say that expectations were pretty low across the board, which means few players actually failed to live up to expectations. So, with that out of the way, let’s get into the list of the biggest disappointments.

Last season, Rem Pitlick was one of the biggest surprises going from waiver-wire pickup to key contributor. Last season, in 46 games, the forward put up 26 points. This year, he only landed on the scoresheet 15 times. Now admittedly, it probably wasn’t realistic to expect Pitlick to sustain the play of last season, a near 50-point pace. But I would say the drop-off was more significant than fans and management alike would’ve wanted.

In addition to less point production, his usage also went down, going from over 17 minutes a game last season to just under 13 minutes. At one point, it looked like Pitlick had a chance to carve out a role as a solid middle-six contributor on the Canadiens, much like another waiver-wire pickup in Paul Byron. Unfortunately, a year later, it seems Pitlick won’t have much of a future in Montreal.

It is worth mentioning that Pitlick is under contract for another season in Montreal, so his fortune can once again change with a better 2023-24 season. And at just 26 years old, I don’t want to write him off yet, but the bottom line is he needs a better year next season to cement himself as an NHLer, whether in Montreal or elsewhere.

Perhaps it was unfair to expect much out of Pitlick this year. Perhaps last season was just an incredible hot streak for Pitlick. Regardless, it’s hard to watch him play that well and not expect him to play at least close to that level, and I just don’t think he did. His decline in ice time leads me to believe I wasn’t alone in that thinking.

He may not be a Montreal Canadien anymore, but I consider Evgenii Dadonov’s play to be the biggest disappointment of the 22-23 season. The now former Hab was traded to Montreal in exchange for the unofficially retired Shea Weber. In essence, it was a low-risk, high-reward trade, but that doesn’t mean there wouldn’t be an element of disappointment if Dadonov struggled. And struggle he did.

Prior to his arrival in Montreal, Dadonov had scored 20 goals in four of the last five seasons, with the Covid shortened 20-21 season being the only exception. The Russian forward could score goals, but for whatever reason, that never came to fruition in Montreal. But if the Habs gave up virtually nothing to get him, what’s the harm in him not producing?

Let’s face it, the Canadiens acquired Dadonov for one reason, and one reason only, a reclamation project. They saw an opportunity to take Shea Weber’s contract and turn that into a first-round pick, with Dadonov being the crucial part of that equation. For whatever reason, the league didn’t seem to value Dadonov, despite his scoring reputation, which allowed the Canadiens to acquire him for virtually nothing. A good season in Montreal might’ve enabled them to get significant compensation at the trade deadline, potentially even a first, depending on how well he did and how the market shaped up. But as we know, that never happened.

Instead, the Canadiens were only able to get Denis Gurianov, a different struggling player, and while Gurianov showed some flash in Montreal, he likely won’t be a Hab next year. Meanwhile, Dadonov, in half the games, nearly matched his goal and point total in Dallas, showing that he does, in fact, have something left in the tank. And to add even more salt in the wound, he’s added three more goals in just five playoff games thus far, including a game-winner.

Perhaps expectations were just too high for all of the players I’ve listed, but I don’t buy that, especially in Dadonov’s case. I think Dadonov was, at times, unlucky in Montreal and probably would have scored a few more goals, but overall, I’d say his tenure was one Habs fans would like to forget.