Habs Feature: Montreal, Canadiens, Habs, NHL, Arber Xhekaj, Guhle, Jordan Harris, Juraj Slafkovsky, Joel Armia, Joel Edmundson, Mike Matheson, Jonathan Drouin, Rem Pitlick

ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | MONTREAL, QC. — Six games into the regular season, the Canadiens have a record of 3-3-0. So far, there have been a lot of positive elements to note. The results are surprisingly good and many players are performing well.

Cole Caufield already has four goals in six games. Nick Suzuki is showing a lot of poise on the ice and is scoring at better than a point-per-game pace. Kaiden Guhle is averaging 21:13 of icetime per game and is playing like a seasoned veteran.

However, in general, there is a lot to be desired in the team’s play. The Habs are notably having a hard time generating offense currently 27th in the NHL in goals per game. This issue was discussed in episode 213 of the Canadiens Connection Podcast.

There have been some good flashes, like Thursday’s 6-2 win against Arizona. But the team is only scoring 2.67 goals per game on average. The Habs also have a very low 5.6 percent success rate with the man advantage, which is far from what is expected with power-play specialists like Caufield and Mike Hoffman.

These observations may be a bit confusing considering with many fans expecting the Canadiens’ main issue this season to be defense. In general, the Canadiens find themselves in the middle of the pack. The team is giving up three goals per game (15th best in the league) and has an 83.3 percent penalty-kill success rate (12th best in the league).

What’s more surprising in all of this is that there are no injuries in the Canadiens’ top-six forward group. On the other hand, two top-four defensemen in Mike Matheson and Joel Edmundson have been out since the start of the season.

This begs the question: what roster changes can we expect in the coming weeks?

Priority: showcasing veterans

When a coach makes a roster change, there’s always a player that loses ice time or even a lineup spot. The hard thing for the coach is to choose who that player will be.

After the Canadiens got shutout by the Red Wings in their second game of the season, Rem Pitlick was the one to lose his spot. Jonathan Drouin is the one who replaced him. However, if merit was the only factor taken into consideration, I doubt this roster move would’ve happened.

Did Pitlick play badly in the first two games of the season? Not particularly. Was he the worst player on the ice in these games? Not according to my memory.

But he was the obvious choice and so was Drouin as his replacement. This is so because the Canadiens are in a rebuild. As a rebuilding team, the team has two priorities: developing the rookies and young players and showcasing veterans to trade them for assets.

Pitlick, although I believe he is a skilled player, doesn’t fit into any of these categories. He is 25-years-old and can be considered a veteran. But he is only making 1.1 million dollars per year and probably won’t fetch a high return on the trade market.

Rem Pitlick skating in a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs (via Getty Images)

On the other hand, Drouin is in the last year of his $5.5 million AAV contract. Shedding that salary would be more than welcome, especially if it comes with draft picks.

The Canadien’s situation right now also explains why Mike Hoffman and Evgenii Dadonov are getting so much ice time, despite their lack of production. Like Drouin, these players are expected to be traded by the trade deadline for assets and salary cap relief. In other words, they won’t be out of the line-up soon.

Similar forward group, different results?

If my analysis is correct, this means there won’t be major changes in the forward group’s composition in the coming matchup. Unless someone gets injured, the forwards the team wants to trade will keep playing.

Martin St. Louis has to accept that and has a hard task on his hand. Indeed, he has to find ways for the team to score goals without being able to make many changes in his forward lineup.

He also has to accept that, considering the organization’s development philosophy, Juraj Slafkovsky will probably be sent down to Laval when Joel Armia comes back from injury.

Strategies, lines, power-play units and set plays are the elements he can work with. He’s already trying interesting things, like putting Sean Monahan on the first line. Fans can hope that these changes will be successful and lead to more goals.

The issue on defense

On the defensive end, the situation seems to be easier. But that is far from true.

The defensemen are doing an excellent job for a group composed of three rookies: Arber Xhekaj, Guhle, and Jordan Harris.

However, I don’t think they can keep up this level of play for 82 games. There are already signs that show the current pairings are eating more than they can chew.

This was obvious in Saturday’s game against Dallas. The Stars dominated the Canadiens in many aspects of play and forced players to make mistakes. As the All Habs game recap notes “young Canadiens were caught out of position and made uncharacteristic turnovers.”

With matchups against teams like the Minnesota Wild, St. Louis Blues and Vegas Knights shortly, there will probably be many more mistakes and turnovers.

Sending down rookies

These turnovers will come from many players but will probably mostly come from the young ones. And it will be the young defenseman who will be the first ones out of the lineup once Matheson and Edmundson come back from their injuries.

Xhekaj is already a fan favorite and recently scored his first NHL goal. It was a heavy shot from the point with high traffic around the net. It is exactly the kind of play you want your defensemen to make.

#Habs Arber Xhekaj through traffic for first career NHL goal vs #Stars

Assists: Monahan, Suzuki@AllHabs @RocketSports #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/PfQuTamFj0

— Chris G (@ChrisHabs360) October 23, 2022

However, he will most likely be sent to Laval when all the veterans will be healthy. This should be seen as a good thing however because it will allow the young giant to play more minutes.

Jordan Harris, who is skating well and showing good stick placement will probably be playing for Laval soon.

These two defensemen don’t necessarily deserve to be sent down. But it might be the best thing to do for their development.

Hard but achievable tasks

To reiterate, St. Louis has to find ways to boost the Hab’s offense and help the team continue to play well defensively. But he has to manage that while giving generous ice time to sometimes undeserving veterans and playing with three rookies in the defense’s top six.

Fortunately, even if he doesn’t completely succeed, the team is in a rebuild. Therefore, wins and losses aren’t what matter most. What matters is if the team can improve and adapt all along the season and if young players show signs of growth.

By Gustave Pinault-Masson, Staff Writer
All Habs Hockey Magazine
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