By J.D. Lagrange, Senior Writer, All Habs Hockey Magazine
For many years now, the Canadiens have been trying to find some offense and they have only managed some mixed success in finding some. Max Pacioretty is the only notable offensive threat on the Habs and teams zone in on him and his line as there is little top end offensive talent to support him.
PENTICTON, BC. – While fans today like to pick on head coach Michel Therrien, they tend to forget that Jacques Martin and his smothering one-man forecheck, five-men in front of the net defensive system didn’t help, to the point where Pacioretty asked to be sent back down to the AHL to allow him to develop his offensive game instead of playing up for him. Not saying that Therrien is ideal, but at least he encourages the team to use its speed with stretch passes and encourages a two-men forecheck, something his predecessor categorically refused to allow his players to do.
Fans are disappointed. Everyone, including team GM Marc Bergevin, knows that the Canadiens have a gaping hole on the top-six and had Thomas Vanek not disappeared in the playoffs two years ago, they would have addressed that need. But blaming Bergevin is a bit unfair as anyone following the team closely will admit that it’s not a lack of trying, but rather some misfortune or arguably the wrong players being targeted.
Bergevin signed Daniel Brière in hope that he could regain his offensive flair, something that certainly did not pan out with the exception of a flash here and there. Many had expected that he had solved the issue when he traded for Vanek at the trade deadline two years ago and seeing that he, Pacioretty and David Desharnais formed one of the best line after the trade, there was no denying that the situation was looking up… until Vanek made his best impression of David Copperfield by vanishing during the playoffs that year.
Bergevin then traded Brière to Colorado for P-A Parenteau in hope that he could find his scoring touch, as he had scored 32 goals in 103 games for the Avalanche, which translates to 25 goals per 82 games. Unfortunately, that attempt has flopped as well as the disgruntled winger only managed eight goals last year, placing him 10th on the team in that category. Had Parenteau been successful, Bergevin would have looked like a genius for trading Brière for him.
As we see, it’s not that Bergevin has not been trying to address the issue, but the moves that he has made have simply not paid off the way he had hoped they would. We hear people, Parenteau included, complaining about the fact that Therrien’s system is responsible for their lack of offense. It’s funny that it doesn’t seem to keep Parioretty from scoring… or Brendan Gallagher from getting a career high 24 goals… or Vanek to have a good regular season after joining the Habs. Those are excuses folks and let’s not fall into the blame trap and give traction to players looking for excuses and for people to feel sorry for them.
BERGEVIN’S PLAN
First, allow me to go on record in saying that not only has Bergevin been trying to get some help in the scoring department this off-season, but he is still working the phones if we believe that true insiders in traditional media. There is a significant difference in philosophy between some fans, some media, and what Bergevin is trying to do. Some feel like it’s his job to do everything for a one-time chance at winning the Stanley Cup, feeling like Bergevin should sacrifice top prospects and first or second round picks for short term gambles at immediate success. Those people are thinking like Pittsburgh, amongst other teams, who don’t mind being horrible for a few seasons and get a “window of opportunity.” They even state that in their justification, talking about the Canadiens’ window.
Bergevin, on the other hand, is building along the lines of the Chicago Blackhawks, hanging on to their draft picks and focussing on developing their own prospect pool, allowing the team to trade players when they get too expansive as younger and cheaper prospects are then ready to help. Notice that Bergevin never refers to a “window of opportunity”, but constantly talks about developing prospects and drafting well, and mentions regularly about building a contender year in, year out. That’s what many people notice when carefully listening to the Habs’ GM. Not overpaying, not panicking, staying the course. It’s hard to argue against it as he took a last place team and made it a constant top team since taking over.
WHERE WILL THE OFFENSE COME FROM?
In the event that Bergevin is unable to get some much needed help on offense, he feels like his team is already improved offensively and he addressed that during his last press conference. He did state that he is hoping for improvement on the powerplay, which can’t really be much worse than what it has shown last year and having Jeff Petry for a full season should be helpful, both on the man advantage and at even strength.
Bergevin also has traded away Brandon Prust (4 goals) and Parenteau (8 goals) and got Zack Kassian (10 goals in 42 games), which is an improvement offensively, especially considering that Kassian is only 24 years old. One would also hope that Lars Eller will finally break through and shows more consistency offensively, demonstrating what he can do during the season, as he’s been showing during the playoffs.
There is also the Alex Galchenyuk effect that we too often tend to forget about. The 21 year old and former third overall pick has shown constant improvement in his game and he has shown flashes of greatness, especially last year. It is not too farfetched to think that he will improve on his 20 goals and 46 points and takes a bigger offensive role on the team this upcoming season.
While he may be perceived as somewhat of a long shot, fans and media alike should not be downplaying young Russian prospect Nikita Scherbak. Most pencil him playing a season or two in St. John’s to gain some maturity but seeing him showing up at camp at 6-foot-two-inches and 204 pounds, with the mad skills that he has and with the mindset that this kid possesses, I wouldn’t be so quick at placing him anywhere, including on the Canadiens’ top-six or nine next season. The NHL has very much become a young players’ league and not many expected Johnny Gaudreau and Filip Forsberg to have the impact they had on their team last year, or that Sean Monahan and Nick Bjugstad had two seasons ago.
The Canadiens also hold a wild card which could (or not) turn out to be quite valuable. When they traded for 22 year old Devante Smith-Pelly, they not only added muscles to the line-up, but they believed that they were getting their hands on a young player who could, with the right frame of mind, become an excellent top-nine player with some major offensive upside, while providing a physical presence on a team that needs it.
While the Canadiens will certainly not be mistaken for the Pittsburgh Penguins offensively, they should present a better and more balanced offense as what they have shown this past season. Those are not unrealistic targets or expectations. They are very much real and attainable goals.
If the powerplay improves ever so slightly by a few percentage points, and the youngsters Galchenyuk, De la Rose, Smith-Pelly, Kassian and even Scherbak (or McCarron) bring some improvement to the roster, the Canadiens could surprise more than one team, fan or media with a very balanced attack.
Go Habs Go!!!
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