Organizational needs

When Marc Bergevin took over as the General Manager last spring, he probably didn’t expect the success that his team would have this season. And it should not go unnoticed; going from being the 4th worst team in the NHL to the 4th best in the span of a year is no easy feat, especially with today’s salary cap. Bergevin stated when he was hired that his main objective was for the Canadiens to make the playoffs and to his pleasant surprise le Tricolore are clearly ahead of schedule after winning their first Northeast Division since 2008. But who was responsible for that unexpected success? Was it the depth that the two rookies (Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher) provided on offense? Was it the Norris-esque performance from PK Subban? Was it the presence of a healthy Andrei Markov? Or was it due to Michel Therrien’s system? I believe that it’s a combination of all these things. Gallagher and Galchenyuk made Therrien’s job as a coach a lot easier by giving him the luxury of icing three lines that can chip in offensively. Therrien’s system relies on speed, quick transitions out of the defensive zone and some offensive support from the defense. Markov and Subban are both elite in that department and they’re both no slouch defensively. It’s also well documented that Montreal has a much better record when Markov is healthy.


But how do you explain that a team who had so much success in the regular season had so little in the playoffs? First off, this team is not built for playoff hockey. If you’ve been paying close attention to the NHL playoffs in the last couple years, you’ve probably noticed that the referees stop calling penalties in the playoffs; players can practically get away with murder if they want to. So it should come to no surprise that the Canadiens have been having trouble in the playoffs recently when they keep having 2 or 3 players under 5’10 in their group of forwards. You can get away with having one on your team if he’s surrounded by bigger players (see Boston with Brad Marchand or Danny Brière with the Flyers) but sadly this is not the case here in Montreal. The Montreal Canadiens will never win a Stanley Cup with David Desharnais (5’6), Brian Gionta (5’7) and Brendan Gallagher (5’9) in their line-up. Now I’m not saying we have to get rid of them for nothing but we’ll gradually have to get bigger if we want to succeed. Brendan Gallagher is without a doubt the only one who Bergevin should build around. Desharnais has shown that his defensive game is abysmal and that his minutes need to be sheltered by the coach or he instantly becomes a liability on the ice. Gionta’s best years are behind him and his body is showing signs of breaking down (back to back bicep injuries). His contract expires at the end of next season and I personally don’t see him being re-signed since he’s too small for a role on the 4th line and he’s simply not good enough anymore for a top 6 role.

Second of all, our defensemen are too small. Josh Gorges is 6’1, Andrei Markov is 6’, PK Subban is 6’, Francis Bouillon is 5’8, Raphael Diaz is 5’11, Alexei Emelin is 6’2 and Davis Drewiske is also 6’2. Now I got those numbers from the Canadiens official website and I think they’re being very generous on some guys (Gorges and Emelin especially). My point is that their small stature makes it close to impossible for them to clear players like Milan Lucic (6’4, 220 lbs), Scott Hartnell (6’2, 210 lbs) and Wayne Simmonds (6’2, 183 lbs) from the front of the net. Bergevin made a mistake by re-signing Bouillon (especially at the same salary…) in my honest opinion. He was supposed to be brought in as the #7 defenseman, which I had no trouble with, but Therrien thought otherwise by having him play 20+ minutes on multiple occasions.  Although he played solid for most of the season, Montreal should be looking to get bigger and younger not the opposite. Another thing that has me worried about our defense was the season that Josh Gorges just had. His positioning was not up to his standards this season and he was easily outmuscled in front of the net and in the corners. I don’t think Michel Therrien’s system is suited for him since he shines more in a collapse style of defensive coverage (see Jacques Martin’s system). If Gorges is off to another disappointing start next season, I think we should deal him while his value is still high. With the way he plays, his body is bound to break down with age. Injuries will become a recurring trend considering the amount of shots he blocks every year. Another thing is that the length of his contract has always had me worried that he’d become another Jay McKee (For those who don’t remember McKee was a shot block specialist who signed a 4 year deal worth 16 million dollars with the St. Louis Blues in 2006.  He was never able to live up to that deal because he was always injured due to his style of play. His stint with the Blues abruptly ended when he was bought out by them in 2009) by the end of his deal.  The Bleu Blanc Rouge needs a shutdown defenseman who can clear the front of the net for our puck moving defensemen like Diaz and Markov.


The Canadiens have the tools to play the same defensive model as teams like the St. Louis Blues and the Los Angeles Kings who are both known for their defensive prowess. These two teams like to have three pairings that consists of a Shutdown guy with a Puck Moving Defenseman. As PMD, the Kings have Drew Doughty, the Blues have Alex Pietrangelo and Montreal has PK Subban. The Kings have Slava Voynov, the Blues have Kevin Shattenkirk and the Canadiens have Andrei Markov. As Shutdown Defensemen, the Kings have Rob Scuderi, the Blues have Roman Polak and Montreal has Josh Gorges. The Kings have Robyn Regehr/Matt Greene, the Blues have Barret Jackman but who do the Canadiens have? Alexei Emelin? The Canadiens lack that big presence on the back-end that they’ve been missing ever since Roman Hamrlik and Mike Komisarek left this city. I think we can all agree that Jarred Tinordi will eventually fill that hole but he’s not ready for this role just yet. There are some interesting candidates for that spot on the market but I will go more in depth on my next blog entry.


Finally, Montreal has to replace Michael Ryder who has made it known via his agent that he won’t receive an offer from the Canadiens (Source: http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2013/05/29/ryder-oublie-montreal). Bergevin will have to find a replacement who can bring size and grit, two things that the Canadiens badly need in their top 9. Only Rene Bourque and Max Pacioretty (to a certain extent) bring those elements right now. I’m sure a player like Brandon Prust wouldn’t mind some back-up either. Montreal will also have to find a new 4th line center and a 4th line winger since it appears that both Jeff Halpern and Colby Armstrong will become UFAs on July 5th.

I’ve pointed out the needs for our team and in my next blog I will post a list of candidates for those vacant spots (4^th line center, 4^th line winger, top 9 winger and a shutdown defenseman).