I
know it’s just preseason. I saw how
great Montreal have been the last two years both in preseason and before
Christmas. I know it means squat. I know we’d all trade a great preseason and a
great start to the season for a long run into the playoffs. Their recent struggles might just be due to a
new defence core, a new coach, a new system, and new linemates and positions
for all our forwards. These are all
solid reasons for Montreal’s early struggles.
Carey
Price didn’t start super but he’s gotten better every game and I don’t think,
of all the concerns Montreal may or may not have, Price’s play (barring injury)
is one of them. Price played okay (for
Price’s standards) last season and was still in the running for the Vezna. To be guaranteed a top 3 goaltender is fine
by me. What is concerning is his
backup. Al Montoya didn’t look very good
at all in the preseason. To the point
where it’s tough to justify putting him in at all. We’re going to need him to play games in
order for Price to be well rested for the playoffs and we’re going to need him
to win games to ensure the Canadiens get there.
I guess the good news is that I doubt, from what I’ve seen, he’s going to
play much worse.
While the goaltending arrangement might not be ideal unless Montoya can find it
within him to nab a few wins, I think our defence is a serious concern. Gone from last year’s roster are Mark
Barberio, Nathan Beaulieu, Alexei Emelin, Andrei Markov, and Greg, Pateryn. I
liked how Barberio and Pateryn stepped in and played solid roles throughout
last season. Can the new replacement
players come into the lineup with as little disruption as Greg and Mark
did? Possibly, but no matter how well or
poorly the guys rotating into the lineup to cover off injuries gel with the
regulars, the gaping question remains; can Beaulieu, Emelin, and Markov all be
replaced in one season seamlessly enough to even make the playoffs, let alone
to forge that deep run into the playoffs we’ve all been craving.
Mark Streit is an older defensemen on his second stint with the Habs. I really liked him on his first round in
Montreal and was sorry to see him go, but he’s no Markov. Markov is better in his own zone in regards
to both defensive zone coverage and moving the puck out. He’s also a year younger. Sure, he would have cost more but with about
$8 million under the cap, the Montreal Canadiens could surely have afforded
him. Remember, we’re a win right now
team, not a bide our time and wait team, and replacing Andre Markov with Mark
Streit doesn’t have that, “I want to win a Stanley Cup this year” feel to
it. I don’t think it would have cost
that much more to keep Markov in the NHL and I don’t know of any fan who wouldn’t
take Markov on the third pairing with an obvious option to move him ahead in
the depth chart should our new acquisitions not work out.
Karl Alzner is fresh out of a President’s Trophy
winning roster, but like the rest of the Washington Capitals, was mediocre in
the playoffs. What Karl brings to our
roster is more size and grit in the back end, but he replaces some grit so I
don’t know if there’s much of a gain. If
Nathan Beaulieu wasn’t traded to Buffalo for next to nothing I think the Golden
Knights take him and we are left with Emelin.
Emelin has better Corsi and better Fenwick scores and certainly hits
every bit as hard as Alzner and then some.
Emelin did manage to give the puck away at some very inopportune times
but from what I’ve seen in the preseason, Alzner is no better in his own
end. In my opinion, this is at best, a
lateral move resulting from a preventable expansion draft loss.
David
Schlemko hasn’t worn a jersey yet, picked up from the Golden Knights for a 5th
round pick. It’s worthy to note that the
Golden Knights traded Emelin to Nashville for a 3rd round pick. Montreal could have swung a similar deal
using the 3rd round pick they got for Beaulieu… but they didn’t. Schlemko is supposed to be solid in his own
zone with good puck moving abilities. A
hand injury has unfortunately prevented us from seeing for ourselves. I assume he’s been brought in to fill the gap
that would have ideally been filled by Beaulieu before Montreal brass gave up
on the young man. Admittedly, Beaulieu
didn’t have a great season last year.
Keep in mind; that was under Therrien, who is an awful coach, and I
highly doubt he would have repeated that this year under Julien. He also put up better numbers than Schlemko
and you have to think that at 24 there was still a reasonable possibility that
Beaulieu improves some this season while at 30 it’s unlikely Schlemko will… and
to think, if Montreal had kept Beaulieu then given a 3rd round pick
to Las Vegas they could’ve kept both he and Emelin. I guess we shall see if these moves come back
to haunt us. If the first 6 games of the
preseason are any indication they just might.
I liked Jordie Benn last year and if he can continue to play that way this year
he’ll be a bright spot. At 31 Shea
Webber isn’t getting any younger but he’s still a beast on the blue line. Two entertaining defencemen (if you like defencemen
who can actually play defence) and who I know will make attempts to crash Carey’s
crease costly. Victor Mete from the
London Knights is a player I really don’t have a gauge on yet. Collectively, the defence was horrendous for
the first 6 preseason games which, hopefully, weren’t a good gauge for any of
our defence. They 9-2 blowout win over
the Senators also didn’t serve to gauge talent.
I’m sure we’ll all be keeping an eye on him for the first 10 games.
I know we’re all excited about the first game against Buffalo. I suspect the lineup to be something like
this; Pacioretty/Drouin/Gallagher, Galchenyuk/Danault/Shaw,
Hudon/Plekanec/Lehkonen, Byron/Mitchell/Hemsky, Mete/Weber, Alzner/Petry,
Benn/Streit, with Price in net backed up by Montoya.
I’ll talk about the forwards more later, but on paper it looks to be balanced
with potentially a 30 goal scorer on each of our top 2 lines. The defence has the potential to be grittier
which could mean less traffic for Price and we all know what grit means in the
playoffs. A team that wants to be a
legitimate contender for the Cup should beat Buffalo by a couple of goals, but
last year the Sabres proved to be a tough opponent for the Canadiens, so don’t
be surprised if the Habs start off the season 0-1. Either way, it’s been a long, hot
summer. We’ve had to say goodbye to some
fan favourites in Beaulieu and Radulov for sure (and Emelin for me). We’ve gotten in return at least one (I’ve
already got my Drouin jersey), and I’m ready for some hockey. Go Habs, go!
Ole
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