November 19, 2023
This past week for the Montreal Canadiens featured three games. On Tuesday night they lost a feisty affair at home to the Calgary Flames with a final score of 2-1. They greeted the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday, and the game wasn’t as close as the score in a 6-5 loss. The Habs were in Boston on Saturday night and took a beating with a final score of 5-2. Here are my thoughts on the Habs after 18 games.
There is no higher priority for this season than the development of Juraj Slafkovsky.
He’s just 19, and his game is not perfect. But if you can’t see the significant step Slafkovsky has taken this season, you’re either determined not to see it, or you’re simply not good at this. He’s been stronger on the boards, backchecking like it’s his job, showing some decent playmaking, and finished the week with his second goal of the season. This is not last year’s Slaf.
Here’s my beef. After 18 games, Slaf has already played with five centremen. He started with Dach, shifted to Newhook, had a minute with Suzuki, played a few with Dvorak, and last night started with Monahan. Enough of this nonsense already. He’s your first overall pick. Stabilize him with a centre and let him grow there. Of course, now that I’ve said this he will almost certainly play the next 15 games on the 4th line with Evans and Pezzetta.
Anderson doesn’t worry me, but Caufield does a little.
Anderson’s snake-bitten status perseveres and it’s pretty hard to watch. But let’s be honest – he’s not really the future of this team, and if he can score a few he will still have trade value at the deadline. Cole Caufield is a very important part of this rebuild, and there isn’t much that’s harder to watch on this team currently than a frowning Caufield.
Marty has to find a way to get Cole activated, and the key seems to be finding that illusive third guy for the Suzuki line. I would have liked to see Slafkovsky get a longer look there, but there seems to be a commitment to guys who don’t work.
Marty’s line scrambling backfired.
After weeks of begging for an Anderson-Ylonen switch, or for Monahan to play with some offensive players instead of on the resuscitation line, or you name it, Marty decided to do it all at once in the game against Boston. When I saw the lines my first thought was that the ideas were good but the timing was awful. Do you really want new lines finding chemistry together against the top team in the league? It went as well as expected. The Habs came out flatfooted and got beaten up for it.
“Edmonton is looking at all three of Montreal’s goaltenders.” ~ Elliotte Friedman
What a bizarre statement to hear if you’re an Edmonton Oilers fan, especially considering Friedman’s report that they don’t want to make a panic move. You’ve needed a goalie during you’re entire tenure, Ken – it’s not panic, it’s paralysis.
For the Habs, the best outcome has to be a deal for Jake Allen. American Thanksgiving is swiftly approaching and the Montreal Canadiens will find themselves in dire straits where playoffs are concerned. Trading away the veteran may be the season definition move that everyone needs to get focused on developing the future.
That’s where we’re at. Season definition a week before American Thanksgiving. If our hopes were high to start the season, we can no longer live in denial. The Habs are well stuck in the middle of a long rebuild, and winning seasons are still some distance away. This has likely been clear for the management group all along, but it may take a business decision or two to make it clear for the coaching staff.
Hab At Her 
The last thing I expected to see this season was a Cole Caufield scoring plateau. But the more I think of it, the more I see this dry spell as a combination of other teams keying on him in addition to Cole himself actively developing his playmaking skills. Afterall, he does have as many assists this year in 18 games as he had in 46 games last year. There may be a positive here in the long run.
The kid is still just 22 and like Slaf is not fully formed yet, even though many have already annointed him a superstar. He is no doubt learning how to find open ice again in an increasingly shrinking marketplace. He is further developing strategies to keep himself clear of unnecessary contact from head hunters now that he is a prime target for opposing teams. I doubt his wonderful shooting mechanics have mystically disappeared and I believe his boundless enthusiasm is still bubbling away.
It’s a good sign that he is not just resting on his laurels. He could remain a one trick pony with that release and still be a star but it’s clear to me that he wants more. Hopefully, one day soon, Cole finds the recipe that enables him to be that dual offensive presence that he must possess to become a point a game player and beyond..
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The Habs need to get deeper in their top 6, if that makes sense
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WOW. You said a mouthful there. I completely agree with you. I couldn’t watch the entire game last night because of the state of the team but I did enjoy Slafkovsky’s goal. I think he is finding out how to improve with every game. I read a bunch of blame posts on social media and then unfollowed all HABS related accounts because so very few folks on there have any understanding of how this rebuild is going. They seem to want the Oilers of the 2000s or the Sabres. I’m okay with slow improvements, the management build, and I’m really hoping that St-Louis is able to get to the next level with his coaching.
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I Agree David. Will also unfollow all those negative habs fans. Really tired of all that negativity
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Habs twitter is a wee bit painful right now…
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Having watched all of the Habs’ games this season I agree with your analysis that at best they are in the middle of a serious rebuild.
In a sense, for me, this Habs rebuild takes place in the large shadow thrown by the comparatively stunning success of the Vegas Knights. I am not interested in the springboard of talent provided by the league to the Knights. No question Vegas management made the best of a very generous set of rules. My interest is in respect of the kind of player Vegas appears to value and the team game they play.
To me there is nothing “small” or “light” about Vegas’ players and the way they play a great team game. Imo the HabsO has to get bigger and play bigger/heavier, esp in the O zone. Dach is a great addition but his injury history is a worry. I don’t know how one finds “resilient” players who can play a heavy game (hello Corey Perry types) but in the current NHL’s small rink game imo not playing a heavy game means not winning.
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There is a segment of fans who scoff at an alleged size obsession, but the Habs were chronically small for a long time, and they already have a couple of guys at the centre of their core who are small. They can’t sacrifice talent for size, but they also can’t pretend size doesn’t matter, because physics is a thing.
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