Three Montreal Canadiens Players Who Need To Prove Something Down The Stretch
The Montreal Canadiens are heading into the final stretch drive of their 2023-24 season. They are now down to ten regular season games left to play and will not be extending their season into the playoffs, so that will be the last we see of this year's Canadiens.
Knowing well in advance that the playoffs are out of reach means the games technically don't mean much in the grand scheme of things. At this point, they are pretty much guaranteed to finish between 26th and 28th in the overall standings.
A strong finish would leave the team with a good feeling heading into the offseason and mean they are sitting in 7th when it comes to the NHL Draft lottery standings. A bad finish would only drop them a couple of spots and likely mean they have the fifth best odds when it comes to the draft lottery.
That is the difference of a 6.5% chance of winning the draft lottery and an 8.5% chance of winning the draft lottery. So, like already said, in the grand scheme of things the games don't mean much in the standings.
But, some players individually have a lot more to play for in the final ten games than others. With a deep group of defenders on the roster already and more coming, certain players need to step up to solidify a position heading into next season.
There are other prospects who will be turning pro next season that could push for a spot in training camp and a few veterans on the roster who make big money and need to show they are worthy of keeping around and should not lose their spot to a young and hungry player.
Let's take a look at the three players with the most to prove in the final ten games of the regular season.
Josh Anderson
Josh Anderson is certainly not out there in the final ten games looking to earn a contract. He has a payday guaranteed for the next few years. Even if he gets bought out in that time, he is going to earn a lot of money in the next couple years.
That is because as soon as he arrived in Montreal, he signed a seven year deal with a $5.5 million cap hit. That was four years ago so he is now looking ahead at three more years left on that contract, but he really has not earned his enormous pay this season.
Anderson has a fascinating package of talents, including size and blazing speed as well as a great shot. He has just never developed his playmaking and vision enough to create offense for his linemates in his career. Also, this season, he has just eight goals in 67 games played. Add on his ten assists and he has 18 points, and is playing at a pace that would give him 22 points over a full 82 game season.
With ten games left, a 29 year old winger signed for three more seasons may not appear to have a lot to play for. But Anderson has looked disinterested and not engaged physically for a while now. He needs to use this final stretch to show he still cares and is willing to battle for pucks, forecheck and make the defenders on the opposing team feel a little uncomfortable.
Otherwise, the Canadiens could be looking to just get rid of his contract this summer.
Cayden Primeau
Cayden Primeau has finally taken over as the team's backup goaltender. It was a long and winding road for him to get here, but there is no question he is the number two option on the team right now.
He was drafted way back in 2017 and was a 7th round pick then so not a lot was expected. Then he had two exceptional seasons at Northeastern and was suddenly on the radar as a potential starter of the future. He had to bide his time with the Laval Rocket where he played parts of four seasons and was solid each year.
This season, for the first five months at least. Primeau was playing third string behind Sam Montembeault and Jake Allen. Finally, on trade deadline day, Allen was traded to the New Jersey Devils and the crease logjam was cleared up. This still leaves Montembeault as the presumptive starter, but Primeau is now the backup.
There is not a lot of time left, but Primeau can not afford to drop the ball on this opportunity. Chances are that Montembeault and Primeau will be the tandem next season, but with the Canadiens looking to be better, if Primeau falters down the stretch, they could look to add a veteran backup like Martin Jones which would put Primeau right back into the same position he was to begin this season.
He does not want to be in that position ever again, so he really has something to prove down the stretch to give the organization confidence he can play 35 or so games next season.
Jordan Harris
Jordan Harris is doing a fine job proving he belongs at the NHL level. But that does not guarantee that he will stick with the Canadiens organization forever. It is simply a numbers game and the Canadiens can not keep everyone.
Harris was a third round pick of the team in 2018 and has steadily developed into a smart, defensive defenseman. He played four full seasons of college hockey at Northeastern developing his game and finally made his NHL debut late in the 2021-22 season. He impressed last season as a rookie, teaming up with Johnathan Kovacevic to form a shutdown duo on the third pairing.
This season has seen steady growth from Harris as well. He appears like he might be able to turn into a minute munching defender who puts up a few points, but just plays solid defensively witout making mistakes and also makes good reads and smart decisions to knock pucks away from the opposing team and gets pucks up to the Canadiens forwards.
But will it ever be enough to stick with the Canadiens long term? The team already has Kaiden Guhle and Mike Matheson as left defenders, Jayden Struble and Arber Xhekaj are also left defensemen who played well this season and Lane Hutson will be arriving shortly.
Does Harris even have a place to play next season? He is going to have to go out there in the final ten games and prove he is one of the players they should keep long term and they should look to trade someone else this summer.
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