The Canadian reaches the milestone of the first quarter of his regular schedule today in San Jose. With 18 points in his first 19 games, he is one point behind his haul from last season at the same time. It’s not catastrophic. But it could be better. Honestly, we have the right to expect more.
Employees of the organization itself said after last season that expectations were higher this year. They repeated it in September, but refrained from naming specific goals. They especially tried not to say the word “series.”
It is understandable.
The Canadian does not have the requirements to secure a place in the next spring tournament. But we must not accept that it stands still or, worse, that it goes backwards.
Reassure fans
We know he’s no match for the Boston Bruins and the Vegas Golden Knights and that he still has a long way to go to be on par with the Rangers, the Panthers, the Stars or the Avalanche.
Nevertheless, there is a need for improvement. Firstly, to reassure fans that the team is on the right track. In a business where sales are based on hope, it’s important that ticket buyers feel that feeling.
Even if we can say that Montreal loves its hockey team only on a sporting level, we should not think that this affection is limitless. Some nights there are a lot of unoccupied red chairs at the Bell Center. The majority of these seats belong to seasonal subscribers.
Are these people leaving their tickets in drawers, or are they having trouble finding buyers on resale sites or simply giving them away, as we hear?
The Canadian must avoid getting stuck in an endless rebuild like we saw in Edmonton, where Connor McDavid no longer knows which way to turn. Or even in Buffalo, where the Sabers are still not out of the woods. He must do more together and individually.
Things need to move forward, even if the Montreal organization doesn’t have the chance to rely on a young player of the caliber of Connor Bedard. There are 30 other teams in the National League that would like a Bedard, but let’s see how long it takes for the Stanley Cup to return to Chicago.
To stretch in Slafvosky
It’s true that the Habs are without five players at the moment. But three of them, Rafaël Pinard-Harvey, Jordan Harris and Arber Xhekaj, did not perform to the standards they showed us last year.
Let’s continue with the young players.
Juraj Slafkovsky shows some nice impressions, but he still needs to do a lot more to reinforce the selling point that Martin Lapointe and Nick Bobrov have made in his favor.
Despite the injury that sidelined him for the entire second half of last season, it’s time for him to step up.
At this point, Kaiden Guhle and Justin Barron are the young guys making the best impression. Guhle ranks third among the Canadians in playing time behind Mike Matheson (24:48) and Nick Suzuki (20:45) with an average of 20:35 minutes per game. In relation to the special forces, he belongs to the second unit, which is responsible for eliminating numerical inferiorities.
Time will tell if he can become the team’s best defender. And for that to happen, he would inevitably have to be part of the five-man attack.
Among the young veterans, Nick Suzuki is headed for a 73-point season, consistent with the development he has seen over the last two seasons.
Caufield must return with Suzuki
Cole Caufield needs Nick Suzuki. Photo Martin Chevalier
Cole Caufield is only two points behind Suzuki in the points standings, but he’s not expected to have a 50-goal season, or even a 40- or 30-goal season. With just five goals, he is prepared for a total of 22 goals. He may say he would trade goals for wins, but he gets paid handsomely for filling the net. This is the best way he can help his people.
Martin Saint-Louis will have to put him back alongside Suzuki sooner rather than later because even if he doesn’t say so, his confidence must be affected.
As for him, newcomer Alex Newhook defends very well.
On the veteran side, Mike Matheson and Sean Monahan are doing well. Brendan Gallagher gives his all as always, but takes too many bad penalties.
Among the goalies, Samuel Montembeault and Jake Allen experience ups and downs. They are unable to put together two good performances in a row. Cayden Primeau is showing more confidence, but he also needs to show more.
For his part, poor Josh Anderson is in never-ending lethargy. No goals and two poor assists. His last goal was on March 14, a week before an injury sidelined him for the rest of the season. That’s not because he doesn’t have chances to score.
Let’s hope his drought doesn’t continue like Scott Gomez’s.
