Canadiens: In Other News… Lack of Secondary Scoring, Kotkaniemi Struggles

For pretty much the entirety of the 2023-24 season thus far, the Montreal Canadiens have found themselves stuck in the less than ideal .500 bubble. Finding themselves 21-21-8 as we conclude the NHL’s All-Star Break, the Habs are feeling good after an impressive 5-2 win over an offensively putrid Washington Capitals team on Tuesday.

Sitting two points ahead of the Buffalo Sabres for second-to-last place in the Atlantic Division, somehow still being 8 points ahead of the Ottawa Senators for last place (seriously, how can Ottawa win both of their past two games against Montreal and still be 8 points behind them), the Canadiens are in a less than ideal spot in terms of their odds in the upcoming 2025 NHL Draft.

While it’s expected the team’s performance will suffer following the recent departure of key pieces like Sean Monahan, head coach Martin St. Louis has shown that his teams will still find ways to win no matter the talent available.

The biggest bug bear for the Canadiens this season has been their offense, tied for an Eastern Conference worst -36 goal differential (the Sharks lead the league with a -92, yes, -92), lacking in any true consistent offensive support outside of the duo of franchise forwards Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki. Going into this upcoming off-season, Montreal will be searching for another high draft pick in this year’s Draft Lottery, hoping to find another promising top-end scorer after selecting two-way defenseman David Reinbacher 5th overall in last year’s draft, over presumed 2nd overall pick Matvei Michkov.

While the future looks bright with the combination of Caufield, Suzuki, and the continued improvements of former first overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky, things are still getting settled for the Habs. With a number of developments involving past and current Canadiens across the NHL and this professional hockey landscape, here’s a look at what’s been happening, in other news… for the Montreal Canadiens.

Harvey-Pinard’s struggles demonstrate a worrying lack of secondary scoring

Rafael-Harvey Pinard and the rest of Montreal’s supporting cast on offense, have been terrible this season. There’s no other way to put it.  Now, it goes without saying that it was a less than ideal start to the season for most of the Habs top players like Caufield and top prospect Juraj Slafkovsky.

However, both have since picked up their play in the second half of the campaign and then some, with Caufield now playing at essentially the same pace as last season with 17-23-40 totals over 50 games, while, in 11 more games played then last season, Slafkovsky has 12 more points, an encouraging pace which signifies his confidence and consistency are growing. 

With this, Suzuki now has some much needed support alongside No. 1 defenseman Mike Matheson, which, while an encouraging sign, simply hasn’t been enough to keep the team competitive, especially when the rest of the lineup has completely and entirely failed to keep up the pace, preferring instead it seems to pick at sunflowers and draw smiley faces in the dirt. And nowhere has this been more apparent than with guys like Josh Anderson, Brendan Gallagher, and Harvey-Pinard.

While I’ve already discussed Anderson and Gallagher in parts, with either their lack of finishing (Anderson) or continued lack of footspeed (Gallagher) making them a non factor in the lineup, going into this season, I was hopeful of Harvey-Pinard’s potential as a legitimate top-six forward. After having gone on a remarkable run to end last season, posting 14-6-20 totals over 34 games, Pinard stepped up when the injury bug had entirely decimated the Habs lineup yet again.

Having already established himself as a legitimate first-line option with the AHL’s Laval Rocket, Pinard brought an offensive consistency to Laval’s lineup that hadn’t been seen since the days of Chris Terry winning the AHL scoring title in 2017-18 in spite of the Rocket’s dismal performance. 

While he was a key part of Laval’s miraculous run to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals (finishing tied for third on the team in playoff scoring) Pinard has struggled to show much if any of that same ability thus far in 23-24, having posted just 1-6-7 totals over 22 games.

Like a lot of former top AHL players who find brief success at the NHL level (Mark Arcobello, Brad Smyth, Steve Maltais, etc.) Pinard got his lucky bounces last season and finished plays when opportunities presented themselves, with a few highlight-reel goals and his first career hat-trick to show for it. However, the reality of the NHL is that luck can only get you so far, and having not been able to capitalize on those same chances this season, it’s been a slow and worrying start for Pinard.

While it is still too early to write him off entirely, with there always being a chance he picks up his play post-All Star break, there is also a growing concern that Pinard is ultimately just another Charles Hudon, or Aaron Palushaj. Players who served key offensive roles for the Canadiens AHL teams but could never show that same ability at the NHL level.

Being signed for a team-friendly deal at around $1 million AAV, Pinard’s surge last season brought a lot of hope to the Habs offensive depth, but with little to show for thus far this season, it's make or break time for the Saguenay native.

Rocket Leading Scorer Brandon Gignac Signs Two-Year NHL Deal, Impresses in Debut

It’s been a long and winding road for Quebec-born center Brandon Gignac. Yet, after spending each of the past three seasons on AHL-only contracts, the Laval Rocket’s leading scorer this season has finally signed with the Canadiens, on a two-year, two-way deal for league minimum. After enduring an ECHL demotion in the 2020-21 season and his NHL future seemingly bleaker than ever, Gignac has rebuilt his career in Laval and earned the complete and total trust of head coach Jean-Francois Houle.

Ever since their beginnings in a dismal 2017-18 season that saw them finish with a 12-game losing streak, the Rocket have built a reputation for feel-good stories and a lineup largely built around the unknowns and the underdogs.

Whether it be overlooked prospects like Joshua Roy and Xavier Simoneau, or minor-league journeymen like Danick Martel and Tory Dello, the Rocket have established a culture based around hard-work and selfless play, and nowhere has this been more apparent, than with guys like Gignac. The departure of fan-favorite and the heart and soul of Laval since 2018-19, Alex Belzile, definitely left a hole in both the Rocket’s lineup and team culture after signing with the Rangers this past off-season, but almost immediately, Gignac has stepped in not only in the locker room, but on the ice as well.

Along with Captain and NHL veteran Gabriel Bourque, Gignac has been a model of consistency for Laval on both sides of the puck. However, while he had shown solid defensive ability and a decent scoring touch over his first two seasons, neither me nor anyone else could’ve predicted the pace Gignac would be playing at this season.

With remarkable 14-28-42 totals over 43 games, placing him 5th (yes, 5th) in the entire AHL in scoring, Gignac has simply been dominant for Laval this season being a deadly threat on both sides of the puck with his remarkable speed, stickhandling abilities, and penalty killing expertise. With this, the Repetigny native has earned an NHL opportunity once more, having just 1 career game to his name with the New Jersey Devils in 2018-19.

Playing a bottom-six role in the Canadiens win over the Capitals, Gignac didn’t look a step out of place and made some nice plays here and there, showcasing his aforementioned skating ability. With a Canadiens roster once-again decimated by injuries and inconsistencies though, there’s a chance Gignac makes an immediate impact and brings some much needed energy to a Habs lineup reeling from a less-than ideal recent stretch.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi Falling Apart This Season with Hurricanes

There was ultimately a mixed reaction when the Canadiens opted to let top prospect Jesperi Kotkaniemi sign with the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2021 off-season. After being tendered a surprising one-year offer sheet at a $6.1 million AAV, Montreal opted to take the compensatory first and third round pick rather than keep Kotkaniemi around in the lineup at a grossly overinflated price.

After being selected third overall by the Canadiens in the 2018 NHL Draft (in spite of being ranked outside of the top-end of the first round) Kotkaniemi endured an extremely rocky stint in Montreal that featured over-confidence and inconsistencies a plenty, in spite of showing some tremendous promise here and there.

Playing a pretty big role offensively for the Canadiens in the 2020 and 2021 playoffs (being a key factor in Montreal’s 3-1 first round comeback over the Toronto Maple Leafs) Kotkaniemi could just never fully replicate the consistency and promise he showed in his rookie season in 2018-19, leading to Montreal opting to let him walk and take it as a lesson learned (seeing as both Brady Tkachuk and Quinn Hughes were still available, yes I know it hurts).

In his first two seasons, it seemed as though head coach Rod Brind’Amour and company had figured out what Montreal couldn’t, with Kotkaniemi recording career highs of 18-25-43 totals whilst playing all 82 games last season, serving yet again a key role in Carolina’s postseason run to boot.

And yet, while 2023-24 started off great for Kotkaniemi, the 23-year old center has completely and entirely fallen off a cliff in the latter half of this season, then hit another cliff, and another one, and another one, tumbling down endlessly with seemingly no end in sight. With just 9-9-18 totals and a -11 rating over 49 games this season, Kotkaniemi has been terrible, just not seeming to know where he should be at any given time.

Having done little if anything to help a Hurricanes squad that have been going through an up-and-down season and need consistency more than ever, Kotkaniemi has stuck out like a bleeding thumb in Carolina’s lineup and his contract status makes the situation even worse. Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon has built a reputation as a shrewd, cold, and calculating individual (having been the be-all-end-all of the once NFL-startup competitor the AAF) and would likely rather tear down the entire Hurricanes roster, arena, and city before admitting he messed up with Kotkaniemi, but the fact of the matter is, he did.

A move meant to strike back at a Canadiens team who mistakenly tried pursuing star forward Sebastian Aho in the 2019 off-season, has backfired even more so. At an eye-watering $4.82 million AAV until 2030 with a 10 team NTC set to kick in in 2025 (with a base salary of $5.2 million over the last three seasons) Kotkaniemi’s contract is a joke and not a particularly funny one, the kind you sign as a laugh when playing NHL 24.

Except this isn’t NHL 24. This is… well, the NHL. Obviously Kotkaniemi is still young at 23 and the potential is still there, but at this point we’ve likely seen his ceiling and even when he’s productive, his ceiling isn’t worth that much money, which could serve to be a problem as Carolina tries to improve their roster going forward.

Again, if Canes GM Don Waddell tried buying out Kotkaniemi Dundon would likely fire him on the spot and come for his reputation, but at a certain point the entitled-stubbornness of a well-off owner can’t disguise the fact that the decision to sign Kotkaniemi long-term thus far has been a costly one, and could turn out to be even more so in the future. Overall, it’s not looking good for the once boy-wonder of the Canadiens lineup.