When Marc Bergevin was hired as general manager of the Montreal Canadiens on May 2, 2012, he admitted he didn't know much about their makeup, other than that they were set in goal with Carey Price. Now, more than three years later, Bergevin has put his stamp on the Canadiens, with more than half of the expected 2015-16 opening-night roster arriving under his watch. However, it could be argued that what Bergevin said remains true today: The goaltending of Price is the foundation of the Canadiens' success and the value of the pieces around him remains largely unknown. The Canadiens are considered a defensive-minded team, but they allowed the 10th most shots on goal in the NHL last season. The pieces for a top power play are in place with defensemen P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov and forward Max Pacioretty, but the Canadiens power play has finished in the bottom half of the League in each of the past two seasons.
The Canadiens have the sixth-most points in the regular season and have played the fourth-most rounds in the Stanley Cup Playoffs over the past three seasons under Bergevin and coach Michel Therrien, but they are rarely mentioned among the elite teams in the NHL. Bergevin and Therrien often said last season that the Canadiens were in transition, and Therrien admitted on several occasions that they were lucky to have Price to make that transition period easier to digest with victories. Price led the NHL in wins (44), goals-against average (1.96) and save percentage (.933) last season and finished second with nine shutouts. He was the first goalie since the Canadiens' Jose Theodore in 2002 to win the Vezina and Hart trophies for the same season.But in order for the Canadiens to exit that transitional phase of their development, Price will need to be a complement to their strengths rather than a neutralizer of their flaws.
This offseason, Bergevin's main target was improving the lack of offense; the Canadiens finished 20th in goals scored last season. An underrated step in addressing that was re-signing defenseman Jeff Petry to a six-year, $33 million contract June 2 before he had a chance to test unrestricted free agency. Bergevin acquired Petry, 27, in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers on March 2.
After taking some time to get adjusted, Petry thrived in Montreal. No Canadiens defenseman drove play toward the offensive end in the playoffs as well as Petry, and having him in the lineup all season should help address the goal-scoring issues. Bergevin took a chance on two talented, underachieving forwards in the hopes they find a way to play to their potential.
The Canadiens on July 1 traded popular forward Brandon Prust to the Vancouver Canucks for Zack Kassian and a fifth-round pick at the 2016 NHL Draft. Kassian was the No. 13 pick at the 2009 NHL Draft, has scored 35 goals in 198 games, and has been traded twice. However, the 24-year-old was tied for the Canucks lead in goals per 60 minutes of ice time last season, according to war-on-ice.com, and the Canadiens hope a clearly defined role will lead to more consistent production from the 6-foot-3, 214-pound forward.
Bergevin also signed forward Alexander Semin to a one-year, $1.1 million contract July 24 after the Carolina Hurricanes bought out of the final three years of his five-year, $35 million contract July 1. The 31-year-old is coming off the worst season of his NHL career (six goals, 19 points in 57 games) but as a right-handed shot with a tremendous release and high-end skating ability, he fills an area of need for the Canadiens. He has 238 goals and 513 points in 635 NHL games in 10 seasons, including seven seasons with 20 or more goals. The bottom line for the Canadiens in 2015-16 is they need to score more goals. Whether that comes by fixing a dysfunctional power play, from contributions from new acquisitions, or through the continued development of forwards Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher, it has to happen in order for the Canadiens to take the next step.
Michel Therrien: "We're going to give him an opportunity, and it's the type of player we were missing when you looked at our team. He's a guy who can score, who can make plays, and who's shown in the past that he can contribute to the success of a team offensively."
"I'm not going to put Galchenyuk in a position where he's going to lose his confidence. You don't want young kids to lose their confidence. Whether [Galchenyuk] going to be a centerman, whether he's going to play on the wing, we'll find out pretty quick."
"Our young leaders have gained a lot of experience thanks to playing in big games, playoff games, and having a certain degree of success in the playoffs. I think those young leaders have progressed over the past three years, and that's encouraging."
The Canadiens enter this season with certainty in goal. Everything else is up for debate. Goaltender Carey Price's excellent play last season (44-16-6, 1.96 goals-against average, .933 save percentage) covered up many of the Canadiens' issues. If Price, who won the Hart and Vezina trophies, is unable to produce a similarly historic season, those deficiencies will become serious problems unless they are corrected.
Alex Galchenyuk has been viewed as the future first-line center since Montreal selected him with the No. 3 pick of the 2012 NHL Draft. But at the end of last season, general manager Marc Bergevin suggested Galchenyuk might never become an NHL center. Galchenyuk, 21, has always said he will play where he's told, and he reiterated that after signing a two-year, $5.6 million contract July 30. Coach Michel Therrien has not closed the door on using Galchenyuk at center, but he said he will do so only if Galchenyuk is comfortable. Therrien used Galchenyuk at center between Max Pacioretty and Brendan Gallagher for 12 games last season, from Dec. 9 to Jan. 10. Playing together, Pacioretty had six goals and 13 points, Galchenyuk had four goals and nine points, and Gallagher had four goals and seven points; they were Montreal’s top three scoring forwards over that period. Moving Galchenyuk to center pushed David Desharnais to the wing, and he responded by scoring four of his 14 goals in that 12-game span.
The Canadiens were 23rd in the NHL in power-play efficiency (16.5 percent) last season and scored twice on 36 opportunities in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The ingredients for a successful power play appear to be in place, led by passer Andrei Markov, shooter P.K. Subban and scorer Pacioretty. Having defenseman Jeff Petry from the start of the season may help, and forwards Alexander Semin and Zack Kassian, acquired this offseason, will be given an opportunity.
The talent is there, and the burden of improving the power play falls on Therrien and his staff, specifically assistant Dan Lacroix, who runs the unit.
Bergevin said at the end of last season that if the power play improves, the Canadiens 20th-ranked offense will improve with it. But even if the Canadiens power play scored at 20 percent last season instead of 16.5 percent, it would have resulted in eight more goals, or about one every 10 games. That would have left the Canadiens 17th in the NHL in offense. The Canadiens would be better served by improving their 5-on-5 scoring, which ranked 19th last season. Semin might help, as would an increase in production from Galchenyuk and Gallagher, but an argument could be made that the problem is tactical. Montreal ranked 22nd in score-adjusted shot attempt percentage (SAT) last season at 48.6 percent, according to war-on-ice.com. Of the top 10 teams in that metric, six were ranked in the top 10 in 5-on-5 goals, including four of the top five scoring teams. The Canadiens’ score-adjusted SAT improved to 52.2 percent in the playoffs, second in the NHL, albeit in far fewer games. They hope that will carry over into this season.
Michel Therrien likes to talk about his young veterans, the core players they are built around. Any optimism surrounding the Canadiens begins with that group.
The most common criticism of the Canadiens is that they are overly reliant on goaltender Carey Price. It's a fair point, but Price enters this season as arguably the best player in the NHL, an argument strongly supported when he won the Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award last season. When you have the best player in the League, it's only natural to lean on him. The Canadiens have the added advantage of having that player on the ice for every minute of every game he plays. The common assumption is that Price will have difficulty repeating what he did last season, when he led the NHL in wins (44), save percentage (.933) and goals-against average (1.96), and that may be true. On the other hand, having turned 28 on Aug. 16, it's possible those numbers are reflective of Price hitting his prime.
P.K. Subban and Max Pacioretty are 26 years old, and each has grown into a vital player. But have they hit their prime like Price appeared to last season? There's reason to believe they haven't, and that they might this season.
Subban is coming off the best statistical season of his NHL career (60 points in 82 games). More importantly, he earned Therrien's complete trust, used in all situations and increasing his ice time for a third straight season. Subban was sixth in the NHL in ice time per game last season (26:12), but his offensive numbers and overall impact could become more impressive if he climbs into the top three with an extra minute or two on the ice this season.
Pacioretty also could reach another level, although he has already established himself as one of the best goal-scorers in the NHL. Only Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals (104) and Joe Pavelski of the San Jose Sharks (78) have more than the 76 goals Pacioretty has scored over the past two seasons.
Pacioretty has done this despite being the Canadiens' only legitimate scoring threat. If another emerges, perhaps free agent forward Alexander Semin, Pacioretty could benefit from the divided attention of opposing defenders.
Perhaps the secondary scoring threat to take pressure off Pacioretty could be Alex Galchenyuk or Brendan Gallagher. Better yet for the Canadiens, perhaps it could be both of them. Galchenyuk and Gallagher took very different roads to the NHL but have been following similar paths since their rookie season in 2012-13. Galchenyuk (20) and Gallagher (24) each scored 20 goals for the first time in his NHL career last season, the second straight season each increased his previous high. Gallagher, 23, and Galchenyuk, 21, are ascending NHL players who have the benefit of three seasons of experience. Their fourth season could be the one when one, or both, breaks out offensively and achieves elite status.
The Canadiens began last season with nine players who were 30 or older. This season, there likely will be five players that old on the opening-night roster. There were nine skaters on the roster listed at 6-foot-2 or taller, and 10 who were 200 pounds or heavier. This season, there could be as many as 11 skaters who are at least 6-foot-2 and 12 who weigh at least 200 pounds. For years, the Canadiens were considered a small team. That's no longer the case.
The Canadiens' prospect pool has decent depth but lacks top-end talent. The main reason is the Canadiens have not picked earlier than 25th in each of the past three NHL Drafts, and they did not have a second-round pick in either of the past two. As a result, the Canadiens lack an elite prospect, but they have several players who have the potential to become solid NHL contributors. They were lacking in quality defensemen, and that's why the Canadiens used the No. 26 pick at the 2015 NHL Draft on Noah Juulsen of Everett of the Western Hockey League. He was the first defenseman Montreal selected in the first round since Nathan Beaulieu was picked 17th in 2011.
Jacob De La Rose, C
How acquired: 2nd round (No. 34), 2013 NHL Draft
Last season: Canadiens: 33 GP, 4-2-6; Hamilton, AHL: 37 GP, 6-5-11
It is not easy to earn the trust of Canadiens coach Michel Therrien as a young player, and that's what made De La Rose's ascension so remarkable last season. The then-19-year-old was called up to the Canadiens on Feb. 2 after center Lars Eller was injured; De La Rose did not play another game with Hamilton of the American Hockey League. De La Rose does not have a very high offensive ceiling, but at 6-foot-3, 207 pounds, he plays a solid two-way game, and Therrien was not afraid to use him in late-game situations to protect a lead. De La Rose played in 33 regular-season games and 12 Stanley Cup Playoff games after his promotion, at center and wing, and he was on the ice more than 10 minutes in all but two of those 45 games. The one thing that might prevent De La Rose from making the Canadiens roster out of training camp is that he does not require waivers to be sent down to the AHL.Projected NHL arrival: 2015-16
Charles Hudon, C/LW
How acquired: 5th round (No. 122), 2012 NHL Draft
Last season: Hamilton, AHL: 75 GP, 19-38-57
Hudon could become the latest fifth-round gem for Canadiens director of amateur scouting Trevor Timmins, following in the footsteps of another undersized player who dropped to the fifth round in 2010, Brendan Gallagher.
Hudon, 21, makes up for his slight build (5-foot-10, 191) with work ethic and smarts, excelling at both ends of the ice. His defensive abilities were known before he turned pro last season, but Hudon was surprisingly productive in the AHL, finishing second in rookie scoring after a blazing start to the season had him leading the league in December. Hudon did this while adjusting to a position switch to center, making him a more versatile prospect.
Projected NHL arrival: 2016-17
Greg Pateryn, D
How acquired: Trade with Toronto Maple Leafs on July 3, 2008
Last season: Canadiens: 17 GP, 0-0-0; Hamilton, AHL: 53 GP, 3-12-15
Pateryn turned 25 on June 20. It has taken some time, but he appears poised to make the jump to the NHL this season. Pateryn (6-foot-2, 222 pounds) plays a sound, rugged game in his end and could be considered a stay-at-home defenseman, though he has shown offensive ability in the AHL. It could be argued Pateryn has leapfrogged 2010 first-round pick Jarred Tinordi on the organizational depth chart. Pateryn, who was selected in the fifth round (No. 128) of the 2008 NHL Draft by the Maple Leafs, would require waivers to be sent back to the AHL this season, making him a virtual lock to be on the NHL roster on opening night.
Projected NHL arrival: 2015-16
Daniel Carr, LW
How acquired: Signed as a free agent April 24, 2014
Last season: Hamilton, AHL: 76 GP, 24-15-39
Carr, 23, led AHL rookies and Hamilton in goals last season after the Canadiens signed him out of Union College. Playing on a line with Hudon, Carr was rewarded for his willingness and tenacious approach in getting to the scoring areas on the ice. The offensive abilities of the 6-foot, 193-pound left wing would be a welcome addition for the Canadiens, but he likely is a year away from contributing in the NHL.
Projected NHL arrival: 2016-17
Nikita Scherbak, RW
How acquired: 1st round (No. 26), 2014 NHL Draft
Last season: Everett, WHL: 65 GP, 27-55-82
Scherbak, 19, is the type of offensive talent the Canadiens need. He arrived at their development camp in July at 6-foot-2, 204 pounds, 2 inches taller and 32 pounds heavier than he was a year earlier. A long, rangy player with good puck skills, Scherbak will likely need a year of seasoning in St. John's but could be ready to push for a roster spot next season.
Projected NHL arrival: 2017-18
Predicted Lines
67 Pacioretty - 14 Plekanec - 11 Gallagher
27 Galchenyuk - 51 Desharnais - 8 Kassian
25 De La Rose - 81 Eller - 22 Weise
21 Smith-Pelly - 32 Flynn - # Semin
79 Markov - 76 Subban
74 Emelion - 26 Petry
28 Beaulieu - 77 Gilbert
31 Price - 35 Tokarski
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