Building A Winner

By JD Lagrange – Have you ever noticed how fans (and teams, to a point) often look at the last Stanley Cup winners to determine what it takes to build a winning team? It’s not a concept that’s recent, as it’s been a regular cycle for decades now.

In the 70’s, the Big Bad Bruins and the Broadstreet Bullies were terrorizing their opposition. That’s until the Flying Frenchmen came about, beating them with speed and making those teams pay for getting into the penalty box.

Back in the 80s and early 90s, the days of Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur and Dominik Hasek, everyone claimed that you could not win without a top notch goaltender. Then came the mid-90’s Detroit Red Wings who won with Chris Osgood in net. So much for that theory.

Then the story line became Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Pronger, Scott Niedermayer… and the same people claimed that you couldn’t win without a true dominant defenseman able to play 30 minutes a game. And then came Sidney Crosby.

At that point (still somewhat holding true today), you needed a two-headed monster at the center position, like Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Every team tried to load up on centers, good quality top-end centers.

But since the Tampa Bay Lightning were swept in four games by the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets, a hard-working, grinding team, the Bolts added grit to their line-up and went on their winning way. I’ve been stating for a long time that the Toronto Maple Leafs were lacking grit, particularly their top players, and they can’t take the next step because of it even today.

So today, teams need gritty players who will pay the price and up their game for the playoffs. What will it be tomorrow?

Here’s the only true fact: there is no single solution to winning in the NHL. You can win with a top-end goalie. You can win with a top-end defenseman. You can win with quality centers and you can win with grit in your line-up. What it takes is a good team, good balance, good coaching but mostly, a group of players who believe they can win and are willing to do what it takes, to put themselves second, in order to achieve a team goal.

Canadiens

It is blatantly painful to read on social media how difficult it is to some to give credit (any credit) to Marc Bergevin during his time in Montreal. At times, the attack on the man are so personal that it feels like the guy slept with their wife or mother! Yet, what he and his right-hand man Trevor Timmins started with their Reset of 2018 is starting to pay off. And this new management group, led by Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes, has acknowledged that in more than one occasion. They are simply continuing what previous management has started, with a better focus on developing those young prospects better.

No matter whom you want to give credit to doesn’t change the fact that this Montreal Canadiens’ team has some great pieces to build around in order to become contenders in a not too far future. While some fans will mistakenly read too much in player comparisons, the intent when doing so isn’t to say that player A will become player B, but to give an idea of the style of a young player. Player A will be his own version of player A. Clear?

So here are some of the core players and prospects, and whom they remind me of.

NICK SUZUKI – Philip Danault was the first one to make the correlation with the Bruins’ player but to me, Suzuki is a mix between Patrice Bergeron and Ryan O’Reilly. A great two-way center, a leader, the team captain who has learned that aspect of the game from one of the greatest leaders, Shea Weber, with whom he still consults from time to time. You win with guys like that.

COLE CAUFIELD – Don’t look too far for this one as to me, he is almost a spitting image of his current coach, Martin St-Louis. And the comparison goes beyond his smallish stature. He’s intelligent, has good speed, and he knows where the net is on the ice at all times. Better, he relates and understand his coach, and unlike Jesperi Kotkaniemi who thought he had it all figured out, Caufield is keen and willing to learn more each day.

JURAJ SLAFKOVSKY – When the Canadiens made him the very first pick at last year’s NHL Draft, it surprised fans and media members. But when you ask NHL executives, it wasn’t a shocker. Kent Hughes has said from day one that the big Slovak is a project and will need time to reach his full potential so they won’t get discouraged by one season. When I look at Slafkovsky, I think that he will be in the mold of Chris Kreider and in spite of the history with Habs’ fans (the Carey Price injury), who wouldn’t want a Kreider in their line-up?

KIRBY DACH – Dach has taken a big step last season with the Habs but what I like most about him, is his reply to a question at the end of the season. When asked if he had broken through, he acknowledged having taken a step forward but said that no, he hasn’t broken through yet. This tells me that he knows he can be better and will work towards it. Skills-wise, I see a potential to become like Mark Scheifele (with a better head on his shoulders).

KAIDEN GUHLE – I’ve said it when he was junior, I’ve said it since. I’ve watched a young Shea Weber play for the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL and I’ve seen a few games of Guhle, also in the same league and the similarities are astonishing. Guhle doesn’t have the shot or the physical toughness of Man Mountain, but he’s a better skater and stick handler than the Canadiens’ former captain. He is the type of guy you win with.

LOGAN MAILLOUX – Watching this kid play this year has been more than a pleasant surprise. Considering that the young man had only managed to play 31 games in the past two seasons combined, for him to be this dominant this past season is not only remarkable, it speaks of his immense talent. And doing this while being under everyone’s scrutiny makes it that much more impressive. From his size, skills’ set and style of play, he reminds me a lot of Brent Burns.

LANE HUTSON – Much has been written and said about Hutson since the Canadiens selected him at last year’s NHL Draft. He’s had an incredible season at all levels and the future is bright for the young man. He still has some maturing and developing to do n the NCAA next season but his skating abilities, his vision on the ice and his play in general has opened the eyes of many in the hockey world. Living in BC, I can see a lot of Quinn Hughes in him.

I haven’t watched enough of the follow players to be able to have an educated assessment of the following players, but they are showing great things:

  • Riley Kidney
  • Joshua Roy
  • Owen Beck
  • Sean Farrell
  • Filip Mesar
  • Adam Engstrom
  • Emil Heineman
  • Petteri Nurmi

So that’s who the Canadiens are building their team around. A mix of speed, character, talent, skating… With a coach like Martin St-Louis, who has so far done well in bringing up young talent, the future is indeed very bright for the Habs. And watch Hughes go at this year’s NHL Draft. Not only who he picks at number 5, but the trade(s) he will likely complete. He doesn’t want to wait another 2-3-4 years before becoming competitive. Something tells me that he will pull another Kirby Dach out of his hat…

Habs Biggest Needs, Now And Then

By JD Lagrange – One of the most common mistakes we read on social media is fans (and some media members) wanting the team to draft based on today’s needs. For example, this year’s edition of the Canadiens has plenty of left-handed defensemen and few quality right-handed shooters at that position. So fans automatically feel like the team must draft some right-handed defensemen, right? Wrong.

But why? Because unless a player is drafted very early on, it is very unlikely that he will jump into the lineup at 18 and be able to have an immediate impact. This is particularly true when it comes to defensemen and goaltenders, where the responsibility is magnified at the NHL level.

So what teams have to do entering the Draft, aside of course from drafting the best player available, is two-folds:

1- Future needs: the scouting staff and General Manager must look at potential needs three or four years down the road. That’s easier said than done, granted, as no one can predict the future. But that’s how successful teams show foresight, addressing needs that aren’t quite there yet.

2- Current needs: We do see a lot of that happening at the Draft each year. Teams trading away draft picks, prospects, and even current players to acquire immediate help. Kent Hughes is no different, as we’ve witnessed when he completed a couple of trades which saw Alexander Romanov being traded away, and Kirby Dach joining the Habs.

Current and future needs

So what are the organizational needs for the Canadiens? Of course, teams will always seek natural goals’ scorers, that goes without saying. But there are other current and future needs this organization will attempt to plug in. For this exercise, I’ve decided to break it down by position.

Goaltending

This is both an immediate and a future need. Tomorrow, I will have a detailed article on how to address those needs. But for the sake of this article, the Canadiens need to address an immediate need as they currently have two backup goaltenders trying to fight for the starter’s job. Neither Jake Allen nor Samuel Montembeault (no matter what some claim) are quality starters at the NHL level. But Cayden Primeau may or may never be ready to be a starter. All they have in the system is goalies selected in the later round, so projects at best.

The Canadiens must trade for an established goaltender, and use one of their first three rounds picks to select a quality prospects as this player won’t be ready for at least four or five years down the road.

PROPROUNSIGNED
Carey PriceCayden PrimeauFrederik Dichow
Jake AllenJakub DobesJoe Vrbetic
Samuel MontembeaultEmmett Croteau

Left defense

Because of the age of the Canadiens’ defensemen shooting from the left side, they don’t have an immediate need at that position. In fact, they have too many bodies on that side, both at the NHL level and in the prospect pool. That’s a position that could be used to address immediate needs at other positions, as Hughes did when he traded Romanov.

For future, the team doesn’t have to draft players at that position for the time being. But I would start looking at in a year from now.

PROPROPROUNSIGNED
Mike MathesonArber XhekajMattias NorlinderLane Hutson
Joel EdmundsonCorey Schueneman (UFA)William TrudeauAdam Engström
Kaiden GuhleOtto Leskinen (UFA)Gianni FairbrotherPetteri Nurmi
Jordan HarrisNicolas Beaudin (RFA)Jayden Struble

Right defense

There is no doubt that with goaltending, this is the Canadiens’ biggest current need. When David Savard is your top right-handed defenseman, there’s a big issue and as well as Johnathan Kovacevic has done, he should be a sixth or seventh defenseman on a good team. Chris Wideman, I’m sorry to say, is a liability now. Thankfully, Justin Barron has taken positive strides and according to Player Development coach Francis Bouillon, Logan Mailloux is the current prospect the closest to being NHL ready. It is rather thin after that.

So in my opinion, the Canadiens need to keep an eye on a quality right-shooting defenseman through trade, but at the draft as well.

PROPROUNSIGNED
David SavardChris WidemanDmitri Kostenko
Justin BarronLogan MaillouxMiguël Tourigny
Johnathan KovacevicFrédéric AllardDaniil Sobolev

Wing

As most wingers can play both sides (left or right), I have only created one category for wingers. There is a lot of depth on the wing, but you will see that there is very little top-end depth as in goals’ scoring depth. It’s the case at the NHL level, but as we’ve noticed this season in our feature “In The System“, some prospects have shown great potential. I am of the school where you cannot have enough quality depth at the forward position, both in the event of injuries but even healthy, to provide secondary scoring.

PROPROPROUNSIGNED
Cole CaufieldRem PitlickXavier SimoneauRhett Pitlick
Josh AndersonRafaël Harvey-Pinard (RFA)Denis Gurianov (RFA)Luke Tuch
Brendan GallagherJesse Ylönen (RFA)Michael Pezzetta (RFA)Cedrick Guindon
Mike HoffmanEmil HeinemanJonathan Drouin (UFA)Jack Gorniak
Joel ArmiaJoshua RoyAlex Belzile (UFA)Alexander Gordin
Juraj SlafkovskyFilip MesarAnthony Richard (UFA)

Center

The Canadiens are in better shape at center than they were a few years ago, no doubt. It’s the case both at the NHL level but also in the system as well. But quality depth up the middle is crucial to success as it’s easier to move a center to the wing than to try making a winger learn to play center. It seems inevitable that the Canadiens will be trying to acquire Pierre-Luc Dubois, which should make Christian Dvorak expandable in a trade, freeing up his $4.45 million cap hit. That’s for the immediate need. This would give the Canadiens three young quality centers in Suzuki (23), Dubois (24) and Dach (22). Both Dubois and Dach can be as effective on the wing as well.

Sean Farrell, Owen Beck and Riley Kidney are top-end prospects already under contract. So yes, the Canadiens may consider drafting more centers since they can easily be moved to the wing later on in their development.

PROPROUNSIGNED
Nick SuzukiRiley KidneyOliver Kapanen
Kirby DachJan MysakVinzenz Rohrer
Christian DvorakOwen BeckBlake Biondi
Jake EvansMitchell Stephens (RFA)Jared Davidson
Sean FarrellLucas Condotta (RFA)Ty Smilanic
Jack Smith

Keep in mind that since Marc Bergevin announced his “Reset” in the summer of 2018, the Canadiens have drafted about 50 players. Some of those prospects are already on the team, others are starting to make a push for a NHL job, while others, like Mailloux, Roy, Farrell, Beck, Kidney, Heineman and company are turning pro in North America.

Due to their poor performances the past two seasons, the Canadiens also hold another 11 picks at the upcoming NHL Draft. Remember that teams can only carry a maximum of 50 professional contracts so not all of those young men will be able to be kept in the prospect pool. So yes, some will have to either be let go by not offering them a contract, or being included in trades in a package to address the team’s immediate needs. That’s only one of the reasons why it makes sense to trade for Dubois instead of waiting, or to sacrifice assets to obtain help between the pipes.

It will be a very interesting summer, Habs’ fans. And it will all start on May 8th, when the NHL will be holding it’s Lottery for the upcoming Draft. Then, the date for the 2023 NHL Draft will be held on Wednesday, June 28th and Thursday, June 29th at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.