2023-11-22 16:23:48
Some might mistakenly believe that rebuilding only means sinking in the rankings in order to collect top draft picks for a few years.
Posted at 11:23 a.m.
This is one element among others, but the growth, individual and collective, of the young people in place also constitutes an essential element for successful reconstruction.
The Canadian will reach the quarter mark of the season in California this weekend. The current ugly streak, only two victories, in overtime, in ten games, places him three points behind last year’s performance following 18 games, colleague Simon-Olivier Lorange reminded us on Tuesday.
The Canadian had a very young team last year and it is even more so with the departures of Mike Hoffman, Jonathan Drouin and Joel Edmundson, but for the moment, he has not yet established proof that he was superior to last year. Perhaps this long trip to the American West will allow CH’s young players to take off.
The situation is obviously distorted by the unfortunate loss of Kirby Dach in the second meeting of the season. Dach showed the most marked progression last year, at age 21, with 38 points in 58 games and effective play on defense at 6 feet 4 inches and 217 pounds. He eased the pressure on senior center Nick Suzuki.
This gives us at 24 years the expected performance: 16 points in 18 games, en route to a season of 72 points, a generally adequate defensive performance, without being a candidate for the Selke Trophy, in short, a sure value without being a MacKinnon or a Matthews.
Despite his 15 points in 18 games, Cole Caufield must give more. He scored only five goals, but only one at five-on-five. However, he demonstrated last year that he was not just an offensive specialist with 19 of his 26 goals in such circumstances. Let’s see how long we keep it separated from its Suzuki companion.
Alex Newhook is an interesting acquisition. He seems to reveal himself more on the wing. He brings speed to a trio. Without being transcendent, he can improve an offensive trio. He’s only 22 years old and producing at a pace of 55 points in a full season. It’s rare to draft a player of this value with a 31st or 37th overall pick.
The loss of Dach also hurts in terms of the individual growth of certain young people. Christian Dvorak finds himself on a second trio by default. The offensive qualities are obviously not the same. It’s difficult to ask Juraj Slafkovsky and Caufield to produce with a center with limited offensive potential. Slafkovsky, 19, is nevertheless taking steps in the right direction, enough that there is no longer any suggestion of sending him back to the minors.
Don’t dream of a Jaromir Jagr. But if he manages to score 30 goals per season while winning his trench wars with his imposing physique of 6 feet 4 inches and 230 pounds, Montreal will have won its bet.
Defender Kaiden Guhle is probably the young player whose progression is the most spectacular, even if he was already very good last year. Guhle, just 21 years old, played 24 minutes in Boston. He is by far the most reliable guard defensively and he has amassed six points in fourteen games without participating in the power play.
Obtained for Artturi Lehkonen before the trade deadline in March 2021, Justin Barron, a right-hander, a rare commodity in Montreal, is establishing himself as a relatively reliable fourth defenseman with some offensive potential, following a half-hearted training camp. Jordan Harris and Arber Xhekaj have shown their limits since the start of the season, although Xhekaj’s robustness and his ability to play peacemaker give him interesting relief.
Otherwise Samuel Montembeault, still considered a young goalkeeper at 27, is also improving. His statistics are higher than last year. He shows consistency and takes the means to obtain a contract for a few seasons.
As we can see, there are still gaps in training at this stage of reconstruction. There is still a lack of impact players to allow CH to aspire to a Stanley Cup. Will Dach become that dominant center when he returns to play next year?
If Caufield does not resume being a threat at five-on-five, we will have to hope for the arrival of another impact winger, either through the draft or on the free agent market in two or three years.
Despite his production of 18 points in 15 games in his first professional season in the American League, at 20 years old, Joshua Roy must prove that he can be just as productive in the NHL. Too early to say, too early to rule it out. Filip Mesar has 22 points in 11 games since being sent back to the Ontario Major Junior League. He remains a small attacker in a team that has several, let’s see what happens next.
In defense, David Reinbacher is expected to be a first-pair defender, without becoming a big star. But he might form a solid duo with Guhle in two or three years. And we must not dismiss too quickly the left-handed defender Adam Engström, 20 years old, even superior to the previous season at Rögle.
Lane Hutson, 19, is producing at an astonishing rate in the NCAA. He has 14 points, including 8 goals in 11 games, following a season of 48 points in 39 games in his rookie year, an output higher than the output of Quinn Hughes, Cale Makar and Adam Fox at the same age. But they managed to establish themselves in the NHL despite their small size because they were also able to be effective with equal numbers. Hutson doesn’t have the speed of the other three. But his hockey IQ remains formidable. You never know how a smaller defenseman will adapt to the National Hockey League until you see him in the National Hockey League. We hope for the CH that the transition will be successful.
The more we think regarding it, the more the 2024 draft, with a choice in the top 5 increasingly likely, might become crucial. Important pieces are still missing.
Jake Allen to the rescue in Edmonton?
PHOTO WINSLOW TOWNSON, USA TODAY SPORTS VIA REUTERS CON
Jake Allen
Jake Allen is third on the list of goalies likely to interest the Edmonton Oilers, according to colleague Frank Seravalli. The photo of the Canadiens goalie even adorns its text. Even though he rightly points out Allen’s frailty in terms of health, he seems to overestimate his value by saying that the price to obtain him might be high.
It’s hard to see the Oilers, already stuck by the salary cap, acquiring an often injured 33-year-old goalie, at least decent in Montreal (he posted an average above 3.30 and a lower save rate at .906 over the last three seasons) with an annual salary of 3.8 million for this year and the next. The CH might absorb a portion of his salary, but is he interested in doing so given the low return to be expected for his services? Without forgetting that even at 1.9 million, Edmonton would still have gymnastics to do in terms of salaries?
Nothing is impossible in hockey. Ken Holland and his advisors may have enormous admiration for Allen. If the line bites, you might as well get the fish out of the water as quickly as possible!
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