by Blain Potvin, Staff Writer, All Habs Magazine

HALIFAX, NS. — A season that started with champagne hopes and Stanley Cup wishes ended up becoming one of the most disastrous seasons in the last 20 years. Losing Carey Price the MVP and Brendan Gallagher the heart of the team, early in the season became insurmountable to the psyche of the team. With youthful leadership unaccustomed to this level of hardship, the ship took on water and the crew was unable to bail out enough to keep the team afloat.

Yet despite the much-too-early-end-to-the-season, there were some bright spots. Notably, Alex Galchenyuk who took advantage of his time at center after a David Desharnais injury. Galchenyuk showed he is not only capable of playing center in the NHL, but of being a top line center, one Habs fans have been waiting for since Vincent Damphousse left for the San Jose Sharks. He became the center of what has become a bonafide first line between Max Pacioretty and Brendan Gallagher.

Nathan Beaulieu is another bright spot. He has shown to be a capable second pair defender thus far, and maybe more if he continues his progression. Beaulieu plays a gritty style and can back up his play as well. But his true assets are that he is able to defend aggressively, clear his own zone with a simple play, a nice first pass or expertly carry the puck up ice. The key for him will be consistency. His progression has made it possible to lessen some of the minutes for an aging yet still effective Andrei Markov.

That was, until he was injured too. But maybe injuries were another bright spot. Yes seriously!

It would be improbable that so many injuries to so many key players for such long periods of time would repeat themselves again next season. The injuries afforded management the luxury of playing prospects in a little-to-no-stress environment allowing management to gauge their progression. Some have shown enough that certain veterans can be used as trade chips. Also, as terrible as it was losing Carey Price, it gave management a realistic view of the team without the 2015 Hart Trophy winner.

And the picture wasn’t pretty.

Finally, Marc Bergevin has had the time to fully assess the coaching staff and the players in the organization from top to bottom. He has the assets in place to use in a trade to upgrade the top six and the cap flexibility moving forward to graft onto the current core with a top 10 draft pick.

The most glaring issues to address are a lethargic power play, a lack of scoring outside of the top line, difficulties in clearing the defensive zone and protecting the high slot. It isn’t all system based due to the amount of AHL personnel used, but the system is still an issue. Some serious adjustments must be made by the coaching staff, if not in the deployment of personnel, than in the coaching staff itself.

Despite the assertions in the end of season press conference that the status quo in the coaching staff will be kept, and that is more than just firing Craig Ramsay. It would be nearly impossible to imagine that there could be no further changes after such a dreadful season. Difficult decisions towards a significant overhaul and change in direction must be made and there will definitely be a different look to the opening day line-up and coaching staff of the 2016-’17 Montréal Canadiens.

The summer will unfold and provide us the answers to what the plan actually is for Marc Bergevin, but the only thing that is agreed on by fans and management alike is that we should, and must do better, because the  Canadiens and their fans have higher standards, and hold higher expectations.