The Montreal Canadiens right now are fighting to hold onto a playoff spot, and their chances have taken a hit after losing three of the last four. While the focus is on what they need to do to get to the playoffs this season, for the front office and coaching staff, they are always evaluating and looking at players' performances, not just for the right now but ahead to next season.
This offseason certainly feels like a pivotal one, and general manager Kent Hughes is going to be busy trying to figure out how to take this franchise to the next level. Several players find themselves right on that bubble but a strong finish to this season could help their cause in making the case to be a key part of next season's roster.
*All contract figures courtesy of Puckpedia
Jacob Fowler
The goalie position is certainly one that will be talked about plenty this offseason after inconsistent play over the regular season. Entering this season, the hope was that Samuel Montembeault would be their starting goalie, but he has struggled to date. That has opened the door for players like Jakub Dobes and Jacob Fowler to get meaningful starts down the stretch.
Right now, Dobes should be considered a lock for one of the two goalie spots on the Canadiens roster next season. He has been their best among the three and the Canadiens have treated him as such with starts in seven of their last 10 games.
The second goalie roster spot is anyone's guess, and ideally, it won't go to Montembeault, but he is under contract with a cap hit of $3.15 million. However, Jacob Fowler has seemingly passed him on the depth chart this season, and with strong performances down the stretch, he could make enough of a case to be the other half of the goalie tandem next season.
For Fowler, the record doesn't tell the whole story as he is 5-5-2 in 12 starts but that is due more to lack of production by Montreal and not so much his performance in net. He has a season save percentage of .902 and a goals against average of 2.69.
In three of his losses this season, the Canadiens have scored a combined one goal and it doesn't matter how good he is in net, if the Canadiens are not scoring goals. It will be a tough decision for the Canadiens but if Fowler has a strong finish to the season, it could motivate Montreal to find a trade partner to move Montembeault and create a roster spot for Fowler.
Alexandre Carrier
The Canadiens blueline is almost guaranteed to see changes this summer and they only have three players who should feel confident in their place on the roster. That group includes Lane Hutson, Noah Dobson, and Mike Matheson but Alexandre Carrier is someone who could find his way into that group.
Carrier has one more year left on his contract after this one with an AAV of $3.75 million and is finishing his first full season in Montreal after the Canadiens traded for him during last season. He has had a career-best in goals with seven, but that improvement isn't enough to completely overlook the struggles in the defensive zone with a career-worst CF% of 40.7%.
The Canadiens probably can't make huge changes at the position and need to figure out where they can make changes that bring the most impact. For the front office, Carrier is probably someone they can win with as part of a better third-pair.
Recently, the Canadiens have shuffled their pairs and put Carrier with Kaiden Guhle with both players playing better. It has been only two games but if they continue to play at this level through the rest of the regular season, it should be enough of a sample size to make the argument they can fit on the third pair next season.
Zachary Bolduc
The Montreal Canadiens are going to have a big decision this summer in terms of what they do with Zachary Bolduc, who is set to be a restricted free agent. They traded for him last offseason with the St. Louis Blues, and the forward hasn't taken that next step in development that the Canadiens were hoping for.
As of late, Bolduc has been a healthy scratch on a few occasions but with recent injuries to Kirby Dach, he has worked his way back into a regular spot in the lineup. This gives Bolduc a great chance to show he is ready to take that next step and give the Canadiens confidence that a long-term deal is the right approach.
The area that has seen the biggest decline is in his goal-scoring as he has had only 10 goals this season, after 19 in 72 games last season. He has seen his shooting percentage drop significantly from 15.3% with the Blues to only 11.4% this season.
If Bolduc can finish the season strong and make an impact in the playoffs, the Canadiens certainly could feel comfortable with a long-term or bridge deal. However, if he doesn't show enough, it wouldn't be entirely surprising if they move him as part of a trade package for a bigger star.
The Montreal Canadiens as a team have one clear focus and that is to make the playoffs and these three players can help them achieve that this season while making their case for next season.