By Joce, Senior Writer, All Habs Hockey Magazine
PENTICTON, BC. — Here are a few thoughts on different topics surrounding the Habs’ and the NHL as the March 5, 2014 trade deadline is upon us. Feel free to post your comments as they are always welcomed.
1- All eyes are on Andrei Markov as the trade deadline approaches. It’s been reported that teams are calling GM Marc Bergevin and that perhaps offers have been made. Markov himself has expressed that he wants to stay in Montreal and Bergevin would like to keep him, but the length of the contract seems to be the issue. A questionable source claims that Bergevin has offered a one-year, $6 million deal to Markov but that the long-time Hab wants three years. It should be noted that Markov discredited this report. Will Bergevin decide to keep the veteran defenseman if a deal is not reached by the noon deadline on Wednesday? Will a team come with an offer that the Canadiens can’t refuse? I personally would listen to offers but I would NOT give him away.
2- While Brian Gionta’s offensive production has dropped this season, he has been sound defensively and he is still more than capable of helping any NHL team. On a contender, he would be a good third line winger who kills penalties and perhaps sees some time on the second powerplay unit. Bergevin would like to keep the team’s captain but at a lesser cap hit. Both sides have been pretty quiet about any contract talk, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Some suggest that the New Jersey Devils might have some level of interest in bringing him back to the fold.
3- After a slow start to the season, Douglas Murray has picked up his game in the last few weeks and it reflects by his ice time. After playing a season low 8:31 minutes on January 14th against the Devils, the hard hitting Murray is averaging almost 17 minutes per game since then and has been excellent on the penalty kill. While the veteran defenseman is now proving to be a good investment, I don’t expect him to be re-signed for next season and if Jarred Tinordi shows that he is NHL ready, Murray could interest some teams looking for defensive depth.
4- When Michel Therrien was hired by Marc Bergevin, I wasn’t overly pleased but like many fellow Habs’ fans, the team’s record since rebounding from a disastrous last place in the East forced me to give him credit. However, we are hearing more and more questions about his coaching style, most notably the way he handles his line-up, distributes the ice time and how he appears to treat P.K. Subban, Lars Eller and Daniel Briere differently than he does the rest of the team. I’ll admit that in the past couple of weeks before the Olympic break, and this week, some of Therrien’s decisions left me scratching my head wondering what his thought process might be. One has to wonder if Marc Bergevin is doing the same.
5- Much has been said about the relationship between Therrien and star defenseman P.K. Subban and an interview by Chris Nilan with Subban put some oil on the fire of some fans already disgruntled with the coaching staff. Subban did not say anything controversial, nor did he come out blaming his coach but as people like to read between the lines, many chose to use that interview to fuel their personal agenda. Unfortunately, it seems like things are either white or black for some people and there is no room for any shades of grey. For example, while I disagree with Therrien benching Subban in overtime against Pittsburgh, there are absolutely no excuses, NONE, not to back check after coughing up a terrible turnover resulting into a Penguins’ goal. Subban, like anyone else (perhaps more due to his style), will make mistakes but he cannot afford to play complacent.
6- Some fans would like to see Alex Galchenyuk make the jump to centre. The problem is that unless there is an injury, there is simply no room for him in the Top nine at the centre position, unless moving Lars Eller to the wing. Tomas Plekanec and David Desharnais are the team’s 1A and 1B centres and there is no way that Galchenyuk can take over from them just yet. Ryan White is a good fourth line centre and the team still has Daniel Briere, a natural centerman playing the wing. He will see some action at centre but don’t expect him to make the jump permanently for a year or two.
7- Nathan Beaulieu has impressed a lot with the improvement in his play when he was called up and his play has allowed the Canadiens to trade Raphaël Diaz. It’s now up to Jarred Tinordi to show what he can do and if he shows that he’s NHL ready, don’t be surprised if Douglas Murray is traded at the deadline. Either way, I’m fully expecting the young towering defenseman to make the jump as a regular NHL player from training camp next season.
8- Carey Price’s injury has made a lot of people questioning Team Canada and how they’ve handled the situation. When questioned about it this week, Mike Babcock denied having any knowledge of Price’s injury while team captain Sidney Crosby stated that trainers were working on Price regularly due to that injury. Hard to imagine that the training staff would hide something from the coaching staff at that level, even if the request came from the player. Could someone be lying? Price has missed the Canadiens’ first three games since coming back from Sochi.
9- Is it just me or are they keeping the information on Brandon Prust’s injury rather quiet? Few updates, some speculate that his shoulder might have never recovered from last year. A healthy Prust is a key member of this team, of its identity, and they are a different team without him in the line-up, even with the acquisition of Dale Weise. Here’s hoping that if the Habs are out of the playoffs early and that they’re thinking surgery, that they do it early enough so that he can come back healthy for the last two years of his current contract.
10- Marc Bergevin has stated openly that Rene Bourque was on the trade market but the problem was that the big winger was not having a good season. However, he has been playing much better as of late, even if the puck doesn’t seem to want to find its way into the net. He’s more involved physically, he goes to the net, digs in the corners and he has had some good scoring chances. Ironically, this change coincided with Bergevin letting the cat out of the bag. Does that mean that he wants to stay or that he’s hoping that a team is interested in acquiring him? Fine line between the two…
11- Check this out: Daniel Briere now has 11 goals in 48 games while averaging less than 13 minutes of ice time per game. He’s tied for ninth in team’s scoring, with Lars Eller who has played 61 games and who averages 16:38 minutes. He’s only three points behind Alex Galchenyuk who has played two fewer games than Briere but averaging more ice time than the veteran. Therrien’s use of Briere is mind boggling as one would think that Bergevin didn’t sign him at $4 million per season for two years as a fourth line player. Oh how I would like to be a fly on the wall sometimes…
12- At the start of the season, many Habs’ fans were on David Desharnais’ case while being all over Marc Bergevin for signing him to a four year extension averaging $3.5 million per season. But with 33 points in his last 39 games, Desharnais now finds himself tied for third in team’s scoring with 34 points. He and fellow linemate Max Pacioretty are the Canadiens’ offense and while the team is struggling to score goals, one can hardly fault the two. I find mind boggling to read on the internet, fans still bashing Desharnais. It makes zero sense. If we must blame someone, let’s blame the ones who are not putting numbers as they should. Let’s stop looking for scapegoats and look at the situation as a whole.
As the trade deadline approaches, don’t listen to trade rumours, they will drive you insane and bring your hopes up… most likely for nothing. Instead, enjoy the trades around the NHL and understand that sometimes, the best moves a GM makes are the ones… he doesn’t make. Go Habs Go!!!
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