Better Luck Next Year: Montreal Canadiens edition
As NHL teams are officially eliminated from Stanley Cup contention, theScore NHL freelance writer Katie Brown takes a look back at the highs and lows of their season, along with the biggest questions ahead of 2018-19. The fifth edition focuses on the Montreal Canadiens.
The Good
The youth movement. The Canadiens have a terrific core of young players 25 and under - a group that includes Artturi Lehkonen, Brendan Gallagher, Charles Hudon, Phillip Danault, Victor Mete, Jonathan Drouin, and Alex Galchenyuk. Some, like Hudon and Mete, have made significant strides individually this year; others, like Galchenyuk and Drouin, are still looking to reach their full potential. But it's clear that the Canadiens don't need to tear it all down and rebuild; they have the pieces. It's just a matter of putting their young core in a position to succeed.
Carey Price will be better next year. It was an absolutely brutal year for Price, who struggled with chronic fatigue syndrome and missed time with a concussion. But he has a long summer to recover and get back to his Vezina Trophy-winning form. As Price goes, so go the Canadiens.
Antti Niemi has been terrific. Niemi looked like a lost cause during the first part of the season in Pittsburgh, where he was supposed to be the veteran backup to Matt Murray. He was placed on waivers twice in three weeks and ended up in Montreal after being waived by the Florida Panthers, a move many thought signaled the end of Niemi's career. Since he was claimed Nov. 4, he's posted a solid record of 6-4-4, with a 2.25 GAA, a .936 save percentage, and a shutout in 16 appearances.
It looked like Charlie Lindgren had the backup spot locked down earlier in the season, but Niemi has certainly given the Canadiens' management something to think about this summer.
The deficiencies have been identified. In some ways, losing Price for parts of the season was a good thing. He has masked some of the Canadiens' faults for years - and his absence exposed areas of weakness that Montreal will undoubtedly look to shore up in time for next season.
The Bad
They're down a cornerstone player. Beyond Price, the Canadiens need a franchise player to build around, but who will it be? Captain Max Pacioretty has been in trade rumors and could be gone. Can Drouin become that guy? This team needs a player to forge an identity around - and someone the fan base can get excited about.
That terrible start. Some teams can survive starting the season 1-7-1, but not the Canadiens. They were playing catch-up from the beginning and never recovered. Add Price's struggles and injuries to Shea Weber and other players to the mix, and they never really stood a chance.
The thin blue line. Defensive issues have plagued the Canadiens all season long. Weber hasn't played since December and some of general manager Marc Bergevin's offseason moves look suspect in hindsight. He opted not to hang on to Andrei Markov and gave up his best defensive prospect, Mikhail Sergachev, to acquire Drouin.
The Canadiens need to focus on getting younger and faster on the blue line, and they have the depth to accomplish that without completely blowing it up -especially if free-agent options are scarce.
The Questions
What exactly is Marc Bergevin’s plan? What the Canadiens need is clear: a No. 1 center; a left-handed defenseman who can play top-four minutes, and a refreshed, restocked prospect pool. Trading Tomas Plekanec at the deadline was a no-brainer, but how does Bergevin acquire a top-four defenseman through trade when he doesn't have that much to offer?
He'll have an opportunity to add prospects at the draft, where the Canadiens have five picks in the top two rounds. And of course, there's the chance Montreal wins the first overall pick in the lottery and drafts Rasmus Dahlin.
Will Shea Weber be ready in the fall? Weber had surgery to repair tendons on his left foot during the second week of March. This is good news for those who've watched him battle the nagging injury; the not-so-good news is the projected six-month recovery time for the surgery.
If all goes as planned, Weber could hypothetically be ready by mid-September, and the Canadiens are hopeful he'll be ready for training camp. But just because he might be ready for training camp doesn't mean he’ll be ready for the start of the season. We don't know to what extent Weber will be able to train over the summer, if at all. So while he might be physically healthy, it could take him some time to get back into shape.
What is Pacioretty's fate? The Canadiens shopped Pacioretty at the trade deadline, but nothing came to pass. That's likely because the asking price was too high; TSN hockey insider Darren Dreger reported the package would have had to include a No. 2 center.
Pacioretty has one year left on a six-year contract with a reasonable $4.5-million cap hit. All signs point to Bergevin testing the market again during the offseason to see what he can get for the 29-year-old, who scored 30-plus goals in six straight seasons before settling for just 17 this season.
(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)