After 34 games, the Habs delivered some gifts before taking their Christmas break

December 24, 2024

On Monday night, the Montreal Canadiens played their last game before a short Christmas break. It was a heartbreaking 5-4 regulation loss that snapped their win streak at three games. The record is still a humbling 14-17-3, but in the last 10 games the Habs have shown signs of growth and are playing some entertaining hockey.

It’s gift-giving season and the Canadiens have been getting in on the action.

Fans have been gifted the power play calls of our dreams.

When the season began, there were some new names on the roster in Montreal, and with them came some questions. With Patrik Laine and Cole Caufield enjoying similar offices with the man advantage, how would they be deployed? And how long would it take before Lane Hutson claimed the spot held by Michael Matheson on the first wave of the power play.

The injury to Laine delayed the answer, but by the time he returned it was Hutson who was ready to feed him from the point. Laine has been an absolute wonder on the power play, and the Lane to Laine calls we fantasized about have become a reality.

The Columbus heartbreaker was a disappointment for a couple of reasons. The late regulation goal that sealed the loss hurt, but it will hurt more if the upper body injury suffered by Laine keeps him sidelined for long.

Kaiden Guhle was gifted Alexandre Carrier.

Guhle will turn 23 in January, and he’s in his third NHL season. Guhle has shown the possession of tools to develop into a top pair defender, but the conditions of his development have been less than ideal. Between the rotation of partners and playing on his off side, the Habs were not really maximizing who Guhle could become, or even who he already was.

Enter Alexandre Carrier.

Carrier is the equivalent of getting pyjamas for Christmas. Not the present that will get you fist pumping, but the one you’ll find pleasant and useful for years, and when the elastic in the waistband gives up the ghost, you’ll be sad to see them go.

Carrier’s maturity and reliability allows Guhle to relax and just play to his full potential. I suspect we will eventually see a slightly more offensive version emerge. In the meanwhile, the Habs suddenly have a very reliable top four pair. They were fantastic in the two Detroit games this week.

Jake Evans is giving Habs management a decision to ponder.

Laine’s return to action was certainly the boost the Canadiens needed to turn their season around, but if a second name comes to mind as instrumental it should be Jake Evans.

Evans already has 8 goals and 13 assists for 21 points in 34 games, well on pace for a career year. He has been fantastic in the last dozen games or more. But with Evans, the goals are gravy. When he’s not lighting the lamp he’s still effective as a fourth line centreman who can move around your line-up.

Evans, along with his linemate Joel Armia, are both unrestricted free agents at the end of this season, and with Emil Heineman they’re forming a formidable bottom six line. It seems obvious that Armia will not get a new contract in Montreal and will likely be sold to the highest bidder at the trade deadline. But that conclusion is not as obvious with Evans.

If it were solely based on performance, Evans is the kind of veteran you want around. But that’s not the only consideration. Evans is due a significant raise and he will get paid by someone. The team that gives him his next contract will pay with dollars or term, or both.

Armia’s current contract, signed on the eve of free agency in 2021,was a four year deal with a $3.4M cap hit. In 2018, Paul Byron signed the same contract. Years later with the cap about to rise, do we really think Evans is signing for less? I don’t see any world where he signs for less than four years and an AAV of $4M.

And that’s what makes this a tougher decision for GM Kent Hughes. It’s a significant commitment with Owen Beck and Oliver Kapanen in development and the desire to spend on prettier toys when the window opens. It will also mean looking away when other teams come calling at the deadline.

Lane Hutson is not the only rookie with gifts in his sack.

Hutson is sharing some elite company with the numbers he’s putting up, and we can anticipate watching him play a ton of minutes on the Montreal blue line for years to come. But he’s not the only rookie shining in Montreal.

I confess that when Hughes arrived and made Tyler Toffoli his first sale, I was not thrilled. I knew it was the right thing to do, but I loved Teapot. Now we can see why Hughes wanted Heineman in the return.

The kid has an amazing shot and plays a solid 200-foot game while adding some physicality to the roster. I’m wondering if he can be the new Lehkonen, who can play anywhere in your line-up and be effective.

If Sam Montembeault didn’t ask Santa for a back-up goalie for Christmas, I’m pretty sure the coach did.

Martin St. Louis bristled this week when asked if he had lost faith in Cayden Primeau. It was an obvious question at the time, if not really necessary, and now Monty has played 10 consecutive games. Someone should tell the coach how riding your starter like a rented mule works out. Is Carey Price in town?

It seems obvious that the next gift coming from management will be a trade for a netminder. Just like Justin Barron was given a chance to prove himself, but eventually ran out of runway because the team needed more, Primeau has likely run out of chances to claim the back-up role long term.

No doubt, if Hughes had already found a satisfactory fit the deal would already be done. But what is that fit?

My guess is that Hughes would like to find a veteran who is under a team-friendly contract for perhaps one year beyond this. That will allow some time for them to assess next steps for Jacob Fowler. It’s a matter of time, in my view.

Monty played in back-to-backs this week and has two more approaching for the first two weekends in January. I suspect the issue will be resolved very early in the New Year.

The season started a little rough, but in recent games we have seen signs of growth, and our favourite team has been fun to watch again. Happy Christmas, Habs fans.