The Montreal Canadiens have continued to struggle despite management expressing a desire to be “in the mix” season. A variety of factors have contributed to this shortfall, including poor goaltending, disorganized defence, ineffective play from the second line center and sub-par contribution from the top six.
As long time Habs fan JD Lagrange has continually said, the Habs need an upgrade in goal if they want to be competitive. Sam Montembeault has been wildly inconsistent and Cayden Primeau has been ineffective. Some will say Primeau needs more time to develop but he has had 5 years and over 200 games of pro experience. Do the Canadiens go outside the system or graduate one of their prospects sooner rather than later?
The problem on defence is harder to pinpoint. Is it the personnel, the coaching staff or a bit of both. With a young defence, implementing the simplest system possible is the logical way to go but it seems the Canadiens have done the complete opposite. Still, one more RD who is hard to play against would be welcome. And the coaching staff needs to take a look in the mirror as well.
An addition on RD and a more simplistic defensive structure both seem to be a requirement for an improved defence.
There are lots of able bodies vying for jobs on the Canadiens’ bottom six but the top six has been less effective than needed. Despite trades and draft picks, the hole at center remains. A physically dominant center for the second line who can do the dirty work for the shooters would change the picture dramatically. He would preferably be strong on face-offs and would be a LH shot to complement the plethora of RH shot centers in the organization.
But those kinds of players don’t grow on trees and it will be a long time before a pick in the upcoming draft can contribute. Perhaps Kent Hughes is scouring the league for a potential acquisition.
The lone shortcoming that could be addressed most easily is the lack of scoring from the second line but that will only happen if Patrik Laine plays to his full potential when he returns to action. It remains to be seen if he can bounce back from the two injuries that have kept him out of action for almost a year.
The prospects who seem to be most ready to contribute are either currently unavailable, as is the case with Ivan Demidov or don’t fill one of the team’s biggest needs, as is the case with Joshua Roy.
In the meantime, beleaguered Habs fans watch and wait.
