Saturday, July 26, 2014

Montreal Canadiens: Becoming an NHL Dynasty

Over the last few seasons we have started seeing the return of true NHL dynasties in the salary cap era. Teams like Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boston are looked at as absolute powerhouses and consistent cup contenders. Montreal appears to be a team that is preparing themselves for years of success in the near future.

They have solid prospects coming up through the system in all different positions. In goal, they have two main prospects in Dustin Tokarski and Zachary Fucale. Tokarski was able to show case his talents last season after Carey Price was injured, and really stood up to the challenge. Having a young talent in Tokarski can take some of the pressure off of Price and allow the elite goaltender some well deserved rest on occasion. Fucale was the highest touted prospect in the 2013 draft and has proven to have the ability to step up to any challenge. Montreal managed to draft him in the second round, and knew that they had a great goalie with serious NHL potential.

Defensively, Montreal has some very high-end talent ready to start their NHL careers. Between Nathan Beaulieu, Jarred Tinordi and Greg Pateryn, they have talent coming out their ears. Beaulieu is known for his offensive prowess, while Tinordi for his size, and ability to play a 200-foot game. Pateryn is very solid in his own zone and has the ability to use his size to his advantage. All three will have success in the NHL and are just waiting for that chance to make the team.

Montreal was notorious for their small size at forward and were criticised heavily for it. However Montreal is changing that dynamic and over the last few seasons they have drafted bigger, stronger players with NHL level talent. Drafting players like Jacob De La Rose, Connor Crisp, Nikita Scherbak and Joonas Nattinen is starting to change the teams overall look.

The Canadiens have a solid core of young veterans gaining excellent NHL experience and crafting their game. Lars Eller, Brendan Gallager, Alex Galchenyuk and PK Subban are all proving themselves as important pieces to the Canadiens core. Last season was showcased a deep playoff run that all four took part in which is a huge asset to have moving forward as an elite team. These players are big pieces to the team, and are still developing and getting better. If they can continue their developments, these are the keys to a truly dominant Montreal team.

This offseason Marc Bergevin made some moves to eliminate some of the older players on this Canadiens roster. Moving Daniel Briere and releasing Brian Gionta opened up two slots in the Canadiens’ top six for younger, bigger, more talented players. Moving Josh Gorges allows a spot for a young defenceman to slide into the lineup and inject a new life into the top six on defence.

Although these more veteran players were released, Montreal still has some great leadership and experienced players. Andrei Markov and Tomas Plekanec are both players who have experienced the NHL and the pressures of playing in Montreal. These two are both big parts of Montreal’s core group of players and helping the development of the prospects.

On top of all of this, Montreal has one of the leagues best goaltenders. Carey Price has truly solidified himself as one of the elite in the net. He has the ability to win games by himself, and make saves when it counts. A huge necessity for a team to have in order to win a Stanley Cup is having an elite goalie to lead the team.

A dynasty in the NHL would be a team that is able to consistently dominate for several years in a row. Montreal has seen significant improvements over the last three years, and they are well on their way to being spoken as an elite team. They will be spoken of with the Chicago Blackhawks and the Los Angeles Kings.

It may be a bold prediction on my part, however, am I really that far off?

Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave a comment, or reach out to me on twitter @darrinharmy

10 comments:

Nattinen?... He was drafted a while ago in 2009 and is a flop. Also what about getting Parenteau in the Briere trade? Moving Georges made room for signing Gilbert to play in his spot. Getting rid of Bouillon and Murray made room for a youngster.

DYNASTY?? WRAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA

When the Habs drafted Price I said we would be playing boring, low scoring 2-1 games, well after PK Subban is signed for a load of cash, He, Price, Markov and Emelin will account for about $22 MIL of our cap space That's Four players, None fowards, counting for a Third of our Cap..No dynasty here.

Price, Markov, Subban and Emelin, according to CapGeek.com will be making slightlyMore than the Black Hawks Toews, Patrick Kane, Hossa and Sharp..And trust me, there isnt One Habs fan that would want the Habs four over the Hawks four players..

Price and Subban are both key pieces to a team, an elite goaltender and an elite defencman, on forward there is Max Pacioretty, a dominant forward. Theres three players in three different positions. You're also forgetting players like Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher. I'm confused as to why you would put Markov/Emelin in that four as opposed to a number of other players on the Habs lineup.

He put Markov/Emelin there so he could have names and values that aid his argument. He could have easily swapped Pacioretty or Parenteau for Emelin but then his argument holds less merit.

Typical Guy Smith/Anonymous trolling.

Habs look more like the Leafs a couple years ago with some potentially very good but still unproven and very green talent. It could be a long time before they as good as the Kings.

I don't believe the leafs made the eastern conference finals a couple years ago.

Trade rumours swirling about a PK Subban blockbuster Three team deal, he Plekanec and Mike McCarron may be shipped out, Habs getting either Kessel or Eberle, Morgan Rielly and a top prospect, Nylander possibly.

Why would the Habs be interested in swapping Subban for Kessel ? It would take Kessel and a 1st in 2015 AND 2016 to make that trade. Nice rumor !

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