December 2, 2024
After playing Jekyl and Hyde in week seven, with a strong win against Edmonton, and an ugly loss against Vegas, the Habs had four games on tap for week eight.
Back-to-backs on Tuesday and Wednesday resulted in three of four points claimed, with an overtime loss to Utah and an overtime win against Columbus. The weekend brought another set of back-to-backs. On Saturday afternoon the Habs lost a 4-3 heartbreaker to the Rangers, and on Sunday afternoon they suffered a 6-3 loss in Boston.
American Thanksgiving has passed and we can definitely stop talking about being in the mix.
It’s an interesting statistic and you’ve all heard it a million times by now. Since the 2005-2006 season, 75% of teams who were in playoff position at American Thanksgiving held their spots when the regular season ended.
Kent Hughes and Geoff Gorton weren’t expecting to be in the 75% at this point, but they were expecting to be “in the mix”, as we heard about a million times in the off-season. They expected to be in that much smaller group of bubble teams competing for the other 25% of playoff spots through the winter. They expected to make it deeper into the season before their playoff fate was determined.
Here we are, and American Thanksgiving weekend is in the record books, and the Montreal Canadiens have a record of 8-13-3. In other words, they are not in the 75% and they are not in the mix.
For another season, the Habs will be competing for the top pick at the draft, and it’s time for HuGo to shift gears and maximize what they can do with those high picks, along with a large collection of young guys assets.
The first evidence of the shift may be in the search for a right shot defenseman.
The Habs were reportedly one of the teams who made an offer to Columbus for David Jiricek. They lost that race to Minnesota, and if a first round pick was the requirement, I’m not sad they did. The Wild giving up theirs is just not the same.
What does it mean that the Habs were in the mix for Jiricek? I guess it depends on the offer? If they were offering Barron and lesser picks or prospects, they may just see him as an upgrade on Barron. But if they were offering much more than that, it raises questions about how they assess Logan Mailloux’s development, or how long they feel David Reinbacher will need to be ready.
The next thing to watch is whether the Habs continue to pursue a RHD. Perhaps they were just trying to capitalize on a player who was no longer in the plans for his team, much like they did with Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook. But if the search continues, it likely means they don’t believe they have the right pieces in that position.
My expectation is that in the coming months, and no later than free agency, the Habs will try to add a proven top-four right-shot defenseman who can replace David Savard as the veteran presence on the right side.
If you don’t like this year’s version of Josh Anderson, you’re just being bitter now.
We’ve talked a lot about Brendan Gallagher, who will never command his current salary but has found a way to be effective and useful. We can add Josh Anderson to that discussion, who arrived for duty this season with a new focus.
Anderson is more defensively responsible, killing penalties, and using his size by being more physical and defending teammates. I don’t think I’ve ever liked him more than during his Saturday afternoon tilt with Jacob Trouba.
It looks unlikely that Anderson will ever earn again that contract he’s in. But he’s found a way to be effectively useful.
It might be time for the GM to get a little ruthless with the waiver wire.
Kent Hughes made a tough call on Saturday, placing Rafael Harvey-Pinard on waivers. It was just a couple of seasons ago that RHP looked to be a late draft steal. But the kid came back to earth last season and has been sidelined with injuries.
Perhaps Hughes knew the kid wouldn’t be claimed, or perhaps he knew nothing would catch fire if he was, but either way he made the right call. Laval could use a boost, and RHP could use the time to get back in game shape.
I wonder if we’ll see Hughes make a similar tough call for Cayden Primeau.
Who knows if Primeau has a long NHL career ahead of him? With goalies it’s hard to tell. But right now he’s struggling, and when he’s in net it feels like the other guys may as well stay in the locker room. They lack confidence in him, even more so than they lack confidence in general right now.
Perhaps he’ll be claimed, but does it really matter? Sam Montembeault is the starter until Jacob Fowler arrives and proves himself. If Primeau has any kind of future in Montreal, I’m not convinced he’s currently building toward it.
Primeau needs time in Laval… badly. Waiving him might be risky, but the alternative isn’t better.
Emil Heineman has earned a better look.
Another beautiful shot on Sunday notched him his sixth goal of the season. He’s not going to win the Calder, but he’s making the most of limited time in his rookie season.
I wouldn’t mind seeing him play a few games with Suzuki and Caufield while Slafkovsky is finding his game.
Cole Caufield is making magic, and unfortunately it’s in a losing cause.
Caufield scored four goals this week, including numbers 15 and 16. He has 22 points in 24 games and is on pace to finish the season with 55 goals. Nick Suzuki is also at a point-per-game clip. They’re doing it without a consistent linemate, and without a legitimate second line behind them.
So they lose.
They will continue to lose until they can fill out their line-up with better talent. Ivan Demidov is coming, but looks like he will join the NHL after a year of being jerked around in Russia. We can’t expect full impact to be immediate. Michael Hage looks promising to help the Habs in a couple of years.
Jacob Fowler will eventually be ready to be the starter, and by that time the young blue line will have some games under their belts. Slafkovsky and Dach will be better.
But the bottom line is that the Habs are currently not good enough, and that’s why it shouldn’t be too devastating to fans that another big draft awaits.
Watching these losses isn’t fun, but they’re necessary for consistent contention to ever be in the cards.
Hab At Her 