Greetings Habs Addicts,
After last night, the Montreal Canadiens are sitting pretty with a 5-1 record. Of course the loss was a 7-1 dismantling by the Tampa Bay Lightning, surely hell bent on avenging the playoff sweep of last year. The Habs spoiled the Toronto Maple Leafs home opener with a 4-3 win on opening night and beat Boston 6-4 on Thursday in a sloppy, but very entertaining home opener in Montreal. Overall, it has been a solid start to the season for the Habs.
Thus far, Carey Price has been far from stellar. His 4-1 record is deceiving with a 3.38 goals-against average and a .890 save percentage thus far. Most of the goals have not been weak and it's safe to say that the pre-season Vezina darkhorse will turn things around soon enough.
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| Photo Credit: LaPresse.com |
While Thomas Plekanec (four goals, seven points), Alex Galchenyuk (two goals, six points), Brendan Gallagher (three goals, five points) and P.A. Parenteau (two goals, five points) have started the year off well, two players who struggled mightily are struggling again. Lars Eller and Rene Bourque have combined for two assists (one each) and are each minus players (-6 for Eller; -7 rating for Bourque) through the first six games of the season. They are playing 14:33 and 12:54 per game respectively and have totalled 20 shots on goal combined (12 and 8 respectively).
Both players were catalysts in the playoff run last season after miserable regular season showings. Lars Eller signed a lucrative extension (4-years/$14-million; $3.5 AAV) this summer with expectations that he would produce. Rene Bourque is under contract for another year after this season at a cap hit of $3.33 million. CapGeek.com has his actual salary for this season and next at $2.5-million.
Lars Eller is also a younger player that still has a tremendous amount of upside. He is also a strong defensive player, so his offensive shortcomings can be hidden so far. He sparked P.K. Subban for a gorgeous breakaway goal coming out of the penalty box Saturday night against Colorado while killing a penalty. Bourque is 32 years old and is not going to return to his Calgary glory days unless he receives top-line minutes. That will never happen.
So what is Michel Therrien and Marc Bergevin going to do with the player affectionately known in the Twitter-verse as #AlmostBourque for his ability to "almost" score goals?
Is there a cap-floor team that would be willing to pick up some of that salary in a trade to dump the underwhelming native of Alberta?
Did Marc Bergevin drop the ball by not finding a deal - any deal at all - this summer with Bourque coming off a clutch playoff performance?
After all, professional sports is all about "What have you done for me lately?"
There are a lot of questions being asked and no real answers. It is only six games into the season. This really is not a time to panic. But we have seen plenty of nothing from Bourque since he was acquired from Calgary in the Mike Cammalleri trade back in 2011-12. Since joining the Habs, Bourque has managed only 21 goals and 38 points in 134 regular season games. Cammalleri surpassed that (24 goals) in his first 72 games with Calgary (rest of the 2011-12 season and all of the strike-shortened 2012-13 season). Cammalleri would also have been off the books at this point in time as well (he signed a free-agent deal with the New Jersey Devils this past off-season). Unless Zac Fucale - the draft pick acquired along with Bourque - develops into a stud netminder/great trade bait, it's safe to say the in-game trade made out of anger and panic was one of the worst made by the Habs in a while. It was also not Marc Bergevin's doing, no fault is being dished out.
But rehashing the past aside, should Rene Bourque be spending time in the press box again this year? He was benched frequently towards the end of last season. When he returned to the line-up, he would produce for a small stretch before disappearing again. Is it time for him to return to the spectator role for a few games? Should Michel Therrien separate Eller and Bourque in order to spark each player? Do you mess with the chemistry of the top two lines in order to do so? Is it bad luck and not a lack of hustle that has led to the disappointing numbers so far?
There are many questions to be answered, but it is safe to say that most Habs fans do not expect anything this year from Rene Bourque. He has given us no reason to expect anything other than an ugly cap hit that keeps the Canadiens from adding pieces down the stretch. Most fans are certainly ready to see #AlmostBourque be #AlmostDone in Montreal.
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Nick Malofy is a transplanted Montrealer, currently living in evil LeafLand. He is a contributor here at HabsAddict.com and give him a follow, as he can often be found rambling on Twitter.
4 comments:
Good points!
It is a bit early, though. I think Bergevin probably tried to deal Bourque during the offseason, based on his playoff stats, but other teams also know what he did (or didn't do) in the regular season.
Bourque and Eller are both streaky players, so if both are on the same line, and playing poorly, then this will happen. But since it's the 3rd line, then why not keep them together, until they both get into a good streak? The two of them are talented, strong, and have some skill (Eller moreso).
I still would have liked to see the "EGG" like for a full year, but that's not going to happen. If the team is still winning with Price not playing well, and the 3rd line struggling, then why not wait it out?
I would like to see Bourneval play, but he should be on the top two lines. There's no room there right now, but when he comes up, he could also play with Bourque and Eller on the 3rd line, and help them.
My 2¢...
I think it's early in the season for Bourque to say this... Watching him in the playoffs show wath he can do.
Ofcoarse Bourque should take a hike, I would drive him to the airport myself, but who wants him?
His salary, albeit not HUGE, is enough of a road block compared to his production to make most teams think twice, let alone a that team would be in the hook for this year AND next.
Unfortunately, if a trade does happen, it is more likely in the off season.......unless he gets bought out next summer, which may be another possibility (assuming he continues to stink and there aren't any dance partners to trade with between now and then).
The Bourque / Cammalleri trade was not a bad trade as far as the salary cap was concerned. There was no room for a 6 M$ small forward in the habs lineup. Just like there was no room for a 7.3 million dollar one, and 5million dollar one. Anything that made the Gomez-Gionta-Cammelleri acquisitions go away was a positive long term trade.
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