After four weeks of action, is there a way for the GM to help his coach?

November 3, 2024

In the fourth week of action in the 2024-25 season the Montreal Canadiens were looking up to see abysmal. The Habs suffered three losses on the week – an 8-2 home loss to the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday, a 6-3 loss in Washington on Thursday and a 3-1 loss in Pittsburgh on Saturday.

Is it time for the GM to help his coach?

While the coach was juggling line combinations, the GM was active on the phone.

With players returning from injury and the team struggling, we saw a few versions of combos and pairs this week. Some didn’t get enough time to show anything, while we had already seen enough of others. In the meanwhile, insiders continue to report that GM Kent Hughes is very active on the phone exploring potential deals.

There are really just two kinds of deals worth looking at for the GM. If he can find a trade that improves the team for the long haul, that should always be on the agenda. If there is a young goal scorer or top-four defender available that contributes to the rebuild, any time is a good time.

Alternatively, if he can find a low cost option to shake up the roster, that’s a deal that makes sense. If a guy like Dvorak could be moved for a veteran defender, even if he’s only staying until the deadline, that might be worth it. If a physical presence could be acquired for a mid to late round pick, that might be worth it.

Hughes isn’t about to make a panic move, but he might try and infuse something if the deal is there.

A scolding and a bag skate might improve your effort, but it won’t improve your roster.

Following the loss in Washington, where giveaways killed them, Coach Martin St. Louis used a puking metaphor to describe his team’s tendencies. He said they were puking on themselves. Practice the next day ended with a bag skate to send a message about effort.

When line combinations were announced for the game against the Pens, fans were left wondering if the coach was picking up his team’s habits. Talk about puking on yourself. At some point, we will have seen Anderson line up for the last time with Suzuki and Caufield. Most of us were hoping we had already seen it.

The puking didn’t last long and Marty had shuffled his lines before the game was done. Nonetheless, it’s fair to ask why he would break up a line that Anderson was working well on to add him to a line where he has never found even a nibble of success.

Here’s why. Marty can’t bag skate them into being a good roster. He has to form two top six lines when he doesn’t have six top six players. So he’s grasping. The effort was much better in Pittsburgh, but the roster is what it is.

The departure of Patrik Laine before he had even arrived was a real kick in the swagger.

Following the game in Pittsburgh, Eric Engels had a great piece about the Habs currently lacking confidence. He’s not wrong for sure – seven losses in a nine game stretch can do it to you. I would argue the confidence took a hit before the season even began, with the loss of Patrik Laine to injury.

I agree with Rob. The trade to acquire Laine at the end of the off-season, combined with the return of Kirby Dach, was enough to have all of us – fans, media, players, coaches, and management – believing the Canadiens could be “in the mix”. Losing Laine was a serious kick in the swagger.

Who knows if he will make a significant difference when he returns, or if he would have without the injury. But he provided some hope and it was gone as quick as it came.

The GM can help his coach with one call.

If the trade is there, Hughes will go for it. But in the meanwhile, he can shake some things up with one call to Laval.

Joshua Roy and Luke Tuch have looked good in Laval. No, they won’t carry this team to the post-season, but they can add some goal-scoring touch and physicality to the roster. Roy looked great with Newhook and Armia last year. Tuch is an upgrade on Pezzetta, who has barely made it into the line-up.

I wouldn’t hesitate to waive Dvorak and/or Pezzetta to make that happen. Is anyone claiming those guys? If they do, does it really matter? The call might be enough to wake up some players we know can play better.

The GM is faced with the difficult task of staying patient in year three of a five-year rebuild, while also shaking things up a little when despondency is threatening to settle in on the roster. Giving kids a taste over struggling veterans might be a way to do both.