Well, it was nice while it lasted. In December and January, the Montreal Canadiens were firmly 'in the mix'. And then, February happened. As good as the Montreal Canadiens were in their stretch in the New Year, they have regressed back to what they were before, and might be right out of the mix.
As of right now, the Canadiens have 57 points (after beating the Ottawa Senators) in 57 games. As clear of a .500 record as you can get. It puts the Habs neck-and-neck with the Flyers and the Islanders, and the Rangers, Bruins and Blue Jackets are between the Canadiens and the last wildcard spot, currently held by the Detroit Red Wings with 62 points.
That is a lot of points to make up and its not even all in the Habs' hand. The Canadiens have to play extremely well, and hope that the teams above and directly below them have terrible endings to the season.
It is a very real possibility that the Canadiens play really well for the rest of the season, and still miss the playoffs.
And the reverse is true as well.
The Canadiens are currently third last in the Eastern Conference, above the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Buffalo Sabres, at 55 and 53 points. So the Canadiens are within striking distance of the bottom of the East, if they finish weak and the Sabres and Penguins finish strong.
The problem is the Western Conference. Anaheim, St. Louis and Seattle are hovering around the area that the Canadiens are in; Nashville, Chicago and San Jose are in a-whole-nother league at not winning hockey games.
None of them have broken 50 points, and the San Jose Sharks, after playing 57 games have only 37 points. That is absurd. There is as much of a chance as the Canadiens making the playoffs as they have with catching one of these three teams for a high draft pick.
So what do the Canadiens do, and what is the point of the rest of the season? Why do we care about the last stretch of the season if the Canadiens will likely just end up where they are, miss the playoffs and pick somewhere in the 8-16 range of the draft?
The answer is development. The Montreal Canadiens are a young team, and will continue to grow and develop during the second half of the season. While they likely won't be playing playoff games, a lot of games at the end of the season are close to that level of pressure and intensity. With teams vying for spots and home ice advantage, the games get really intense.
Its something that a player like Lane Hutson has never experienced, at this level and quality of opponents. Because its hard to remember, but Hutson is still a rookie, and will still get better somehow.
Emil Heineman, who just got back from injury is another rookie that has surprised many, and may become a key piece of the Montreal Canadiens bottom-six for a long time. He was already a part of a fantastic fourth line this year, and the downfall of the Canadiens seemed to coincide with Heineman going down with injury.
Juraj Slafkovsky has had an up-and-down season this year, which is okay for a young player still trying to find his footing in the big league. He did have a fantastic game against Ottawa, and seems to have grown physically and hopefully will continue to grow.
And its not like Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki are long-time veterans, and both players are putting up career-best numbers this season. And then there are other prospects. Logan Mailloux and Owen Beck have made a couple of call-ups, and David Reinbacher has made an early return to the Laval Rocket.
And that's why I don't think that selling off all the veterans is a smart move. There is a lot of value of players that know what they are doing and can teach and mentor the young players.
So at this point the scores of the games don't matter anymore. What all Habs fans should be looking for at this time is for the young and important players to make big steps forward and continue to grow their game. This season is middle of the road, but the future surely is bright.