November 10, 2024
The fifth week of action for the Montreal Canadiens in the 2024-25 season featured three games. Tuesday’s game was a 3-2 overtime loss at home to the Calgary Flames. On Thursday, they lost 5-3 in New Jersey. Saturday night’s game was in Toronto, and the Habs left with a 4-1 loss.
After another winless week there are still some things to be hopeful about.
Jake Evans is raising his value at the right time.
At the start of the 2021-22 season, after an off-season that saw the Habs lose a ton of players following their Stanley Cup Final appearance, I wondered if Jake Evans would be able to rise to another level and fill some of the hole left by Phillip Danault. We know how that wert – a few weeks later GM Marc Bergevin was fired and Jeff Gorton was hired to rebuild the Canadiens.
Before he left, Bergevin had signed Evans to a three- year contract extension that carried a $1.7M cap hit. Evans is now in the final year of that contract and Gorton and GM Kent Hughes have a decision to make.
After playing all four years in his college career, and then two complete years in Laval, Evans is in his sixth season with the Montreal Canadiens. He will turn 29 just as this contract is expiring.
Evans is a perfect fourth line centreman. He’s hardworking, consistent, energetic, and defensively aware. But here is his true value – you can move him up the lineup, or throw him on the wing to support more offensive players, and Evans won’t hurt you. He’s never been able to elevate his offensive game to claim a spot higher in the lineup, but he can pull off spot duty for a few games as needed.
This past week, Evans found himself centering the second line, while Alex Newhook and Kirby Dach played wing, and while Oliver Kapanen was sent back to Europe.
Jake Evans is a perfect trade deadline target for a Stanley Cup contender.
Of course, Evans also has value for the Habs. He’s the kind of veteran that can be very useful in a rebuild. The decision HuGo will have to make is where Evans provides more value to the Habs.
In my view, if the price is right you deal Jake Evans. Take the late first or the decent prospect and use that asset to improve the quality of picks at what may be the final top pick draft for the Habs. Find another veteran that maybe costs a little less, or resign Evans in the off-season if he hasn’t priced himself out of the Habs budget.
Brendan Gallagher is enjoying somewhat of a renaissance.
On October 14, 2020, Bergevin signed Gallagher to a six-year contract that would carry a cap hit of $6.5M. That contract kicked in the same year that the Canadiens were forced to begin a rebuild. The riming was less than ideal, to be kind.
Gallagher ended up playing just 35 games in the season the contract was signed, and then 56 and 37 games in the first two seasons of the contract. When he was in the lineup, Gally looked beaten up, slow and struggling to be useful in Coach Martin St. Louis’ style.
Last season Gallagher was back to 77 games, and scored 16 goals and 31 points. He was showing glimmers of finding a new style of game but was still taking too many bad penalties.
Gally scored in all three losses this week, and is now at seven goals and an assist in 15 games. He has also significantly reduced his penalty minutes – just two so far on the season – and has been very effective in a bottom-six role.
Raise your hand if you had Gally being the Habs most consistent player to start the season. He’s leading a group of resurgent veterans carrying the Habs while their young core is struggling mightily. It’s not the overpaid vets who are hurting the Montreal Canadiens right now.
Despite high hopes to start the season, there is no evidence that a panic move is on the horizon.
As the losses have piled up early, rumours have circulated that Hughes would try and make a trade to keep the Habs hopes alive to “stay in the mix”. A deal has not materialized and, beyond that, the commitment to youth development has been evident.
This week Oliver Kapanen was loaned to Timra in the Swedish Hockey League. When a call-up was necessary, it was Lucas Condotta who got tapped rather than one of the kids with a higher ceiling. Arber Xhekaj and Justin Barron continue to fight for ice time while Logan Mailloux gets the big minutes in Laval.
Those are developmental decisions that show a continued commitment to a the rebuild.
A trade might still be forthcoming. The Habs still covet a physical presence, and would no doubt be prepared to move on from a few players. Any deal will still have the long term plan for the rebuild at the forefront. That’s the kind of discipline the Habs need right now.
God knows they need help. Their best players are not performing and look like they’re skating in quicksand. A trade might be the jolt they need. But it has to be the right deal that supports the rebuild.
Hughes can’t get caught in the emotional spin his team is in.
Hab At Her 