Grading Alexandre Burrows season
It's easy to take a lot of flack or be praised when you're responsible for the power play scheme, nobody is more aware of that than Alexandre Burrows.
The Montreal Canadiens power play has been the talk in La Belle Province for as long as anybody can remember and that will likely never change.
If it's clicking everybody is happy, but if there is a drought then boos don't follow far behind; coaching the Habs power play isn't a job for the faint of heart. As one of the assistant coaches on Martin St. Louis staff, Burrows oversees the power play. Kind of funny when you consider that during his NHL career, he wasn't a powerplay specialist.
Regardless of that, however, he has done a reasonably good job with the weaponry he has been provided. The second unit is a bit of an afterthought and to be honest, that isn't surprising for a team that is still constructing its roster. But the top unit did a lot of positives this season and Mike Matheson as the number one power play quarterback did quite well.
I believe that he is more suited to run the second power play, as he sometimes looked a little overwhelmed with too much time and space. But that is a story for another day, with Kirby Dach out after the second game of the season, the unit took a blow. Thankfully Sean Monahan stepped in and did an excellent job keeping the unit running smoothly until he was traded at the deadline.
After Monahan's departure, Burrows plugged in Tanner pearson, which didn't workout all that well, but pickings were slim. When Alex Newhook returned, he assumed the bumper position and his speed and vision were a welcomed addition. So, for what could have stalled the power play, Burrows did some juggling and managed to get some solid production out of his group.
It was far from a perfect season and that isn't coming as a surprise statement - the team needs to play better. They did what they could with what they had and a lot of players are still adapting, with young guys still funnelling into the lineup. So with that said, it's not a surprise that the power play didn't perform at its best, clicking at 17.5%, but Burrows faced many challenges and still kept pushing his troops - so I believe he is worth of a C, but he will work hard to improve the teams numbers.
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