On November 15th of the current NHL season the Montreal Canadiens sat dead last in the standings with a points percentage of .361. Fans were questioning the decision made by Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes to publicly proclaim that they wanted the team to be “in the mix” as playoff time approached. The expectations were too lofty, they said, putting undue pressure on the young squad.
But the management team never retracted that statement. Rather, they waited for the young team to gel, waited for players to return from injury, kept an eye on their prospects and added a key player via trade while they continued their ongoing evaluation.
The series of events that unfolded have revitalized the team in a way the few of us expected. Patrik Laine returned to action, Alexandre Carrier was acquired in a trade, Jakub Dobeš was recalled from Laval and the players fully bought into the concept of team first.
Since plummeting to the bottom of the standings in mid-November the Canadiens have had the fifth best record in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs nipping at their heels. The sample size is not small with the Canadiens having played 27 games in that time frame.
Those fans longing for another top five pick in the upcoming draft are having to adjust their mindset. The Canadiens are no longer regarded as bottom feeders but are they legitimate contenders? If so what path should Kent Hughes follow over the next few weeks and months?
In looking at other teams that have been in the rebuild mode, it has become apparent that Hughes values a mix of veterans and youth. It is also become apparent that he is fully willing to give young players a chance to find themselves if they show potential and put in the effort.
We’ve seen him exhibit patience with players like Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook, even going so far as to hire a face-off coach to help them improve their games. Even with Cayden Primeau, Hughes hung in as long as he could before making the change. With others like Justin Barron and Michael Pezzetta, his evaluation has pointed him in a different direction. Patience has it limits.
When it comes to the veterans on expiring contracts, could that mean that a wholesale housecleaning at the trade deadline will not happen? There is, in fact, a school of thought that the opposite could occur. Hughes may decide to keep his veterans, trying to re-sign one or two while letting the others explore the free agent market.
Players contribute to a team’s success in more ways that scoring goals. It is hard for the casual fan to evaluate how much of that success can be attributed to the play of foot soldiers like Joel Armia, Jake Evans, Christian Dvorak and David Savard. The subtleties of what happens in the dressing room, on the bench and on the ice contribute to a player’s value and we are unaware of how much value the team places on each of these attributes
Could a couple of these players re-sign with the Canadiens? Should the Canadiens offer contracts to one or two of them if their performance continues at recent levels? The answer to both of these questions is probably, yes. But a lot depends on the amount and the term sought by the players Hughes would like to re-sign. While he wants to maintain a mix of veterans and youth, salary cap considerations always influence the final decision.
With a glut of prospects already in the organization and a multitude draft picks, trading for more of the same is unlikely unless it is a very high end prospect or a very high pick. After all, who could they acquire for a playoff rental that would jump ahead of David Reinbacher, Ivan Demidov, Michael Hage or Jacob Fowler on the organizational depth chart? Middle of the road prospects have to be low on Montreal’s priority list right now.
The Canadiens would be better off holding on to veterans past the trade deadline in the hopes of a playoff run and losing some of them to free agency rather than gutting veterans from the team in return for picks or prospects that are unlikely to be critical to the team’s success in the future.
The team is now at the stage where the lineup looks fairly solid from top to bottom at forward, on defence and in goal. A certain chemistry has developed along with a never-say-die mindset. Tweaking of the roster will probably occur but major surgery is no longer required.
Kent Hughes may take a look at this team, particularly the bottom six forward group, a determine that he has something special there. He may want to keep more of those pieces in place than previously envisioned. If he does, that may mean an extra year of toiling in the minors for players previously thought ready for an NHL job next season.
All of this has everyone rethinking what the roster of the team will look like after the trade deadline and into next season. It also has us pondering what the future of many players currently in the organization will be. The picture is certainly different from what it was two short months ago.
