Emelin No Boom

Formerly known as "Emelin Boom", Alexei Emelin is struggling mightily this season with the Montreal Canadiens. Currently playing on the team's third pairing with Tom Gilbert, Emelin, 28, is in the first year of a four-year contract that is paying him on $4.1 million annually, pact that also includes a no-movement clause.

The Russian native has been fairly inconsistent this season for the Habs, recording 1 goal and 10 assists for 11 points in 39 games with a +5 rating. While Emelin has 117 hits for an average of three hits per contest (on par with his career average), he seems hesitant to distribute thunderous checks in the middle of the ice like he used to do prior to the knee injury he suffered in April 2013 against Milan Lucic of the Boston Bruins.

Emelin seems confused on the ice the season, making bad decisions over bad decisions, going from bad positioning to bad penalties, he has lost his confidence and it shows in his overall game. Emelin admitted to Marc-Antoine Grondin of La Presse that the hit on Brian Gionta on November 29th, hit for which he was fined $11,000, crushed his confidence. As a result of this "missed hit", Emelin is lacking the confidence to hit opponents when they enter the defensive zone, somewhat of his trademark in recent years.

Emelin is sometimes way out of position and appears lost on the ice just like on the Martin St. Louis goal in overtime last playoffs. You can see that Emelin is covering nobody and that he is on the wrong side of the ice surface...

When paired with Tom Gilbert, the two rearguards combine for a mediocre Corsi of 36.9%. 36.9%! A Corsi that low is in the George Parros/John Scott area, And when they are not together, but players have a Corsi above 47%, so it would be wise for Michel Therrien to split them. (A good Corsi rating is around 50%.)

Since the start of the 2013-14 season, Alexei Emelin has a 44.5 CF%, which ranks him 110th out of 119 NHL defensemen with a least 1,500 minutes played (according to War on ice), all that while facing a low quality of competition compared to the team's first pairing of Andrei Markov and PK Subban.

Because Michel Therrien used to play him more than 20 minutes per game when he was paired with PK Subban earlier this season, Emelin is currently on pace to play the most minutes per game on average (20:59) whereas he should only play about 15 minutes per contest with the way he has been playing recently.

With the emergence of youngster Nathan Beaulieu and the depth of the organization on the blue line, general manager Marc Bergevin could envision trading him (providing he lifts his NMC) prior to the trade deadline to get offensive help. With veteran Bryan Allen and his $3M cap hit already in the minors and his NMC, Emelin will not be demoted to the AHL for those wishing that to happen.

What would you do with Emelin? Scratch him a few games? Trade him? Or simply continue to play him, but with a different partner?

**************

Follow me on Twitter @FredPoulin98

Read More

The Emergence Of Raphael Diaz

Who would have thought that after three games, the Montreal Canadiens’ leading scorer would be sophomore defenseman Raphael Diaz? That’s right, nobody!

Raphael Diaz is the Habs’ leading scorer with 5 points (Cliff Welch/Icon SMI)

Diaz is currently leading the team in scoring with five points (five assists), three of which came with the man advantage. He also has eight blocked shots and a +1 plus/minus rating in three contests so far. The native of Baar, Switzerland, who turned 27 on January 9th, has been dynamic at the point on the power play, feeding great passes to a healthy and confident Andrei Markov who leads the team with three goals, all on the man advantage.

The right-handed rearguard is the player who has benefited the most from P.K. Subban’s absencedue to a contract stalemate with new Canadiens’GM Marc Bergevin and after playing only 14:49 minutes in the home opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Diaz played 18:06 minutes Tuesday against the Florida Panthers and 20:28 minutes yesterday against the uninspired Washington Capitals.

This increase in ice time shows that new head coach Michel Therrien is getting to know Diaz and has decided to rely more on him at the expense of veteran Tomas Kaberle, who is now relegated to the second power play unit and plays under 15 minutes per game on average.

The 5’11”, 195-lb blue liner made his NHL debut last season after playing several years for EV Zug of the Swiss A League. The Canadiens have a knack for finding untapped talent in this league after drafting Mark Streit in the 9th round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft and Yannick Weber in the 3rd round of the 2007 draft. Diaz signed with the Habs as a free agent in May 2011 to finally make the jump from his homeland.

During his rookie campaign, Diaz managed to record 3 goals and 13 assists for 16 points in 59 games after being made a healthy scratch on more than one occasion. Now he is back in Montreal with more confidence and experience after playing 32 games in Switzerland during the unnecessary NHL lockout. In Europe, Diaz notched 7 goals and added 22 assists for 29 points during his stay with his former team. He was the fourth-leading scorer on his club when he came back to North America. NHL all-star Henrik Zetterberg, fellow countryman Damian Brunner and inconsistent, but talented, Linus Omark all played with him in EV Zug.

Raphael Diaz – Just Play (in German)

Back with the Habs, Diaz is currently paired with gritty veteran Francis Bouillon, who’s physical and sound defensive play has allowed Diaz to make solid passes and jump into the attack on numerous occasions. Averaging 4:40 minutes per game on the power play, second only to Markov’s 5:08 minutes, Diaz is taking full advantage of Subban’s absence by contributing to the team’s rejuvenated power play, which is currently clicking at a 29.4% rate (5 for 17) through three games. The same power play that finished 28th in the league last year, and produced at a dismal 14.3% rate!

With improving skating and decision making, Diaz has been able to make the key plays in his own zone, whether clearing the puck along the boards or finding his wingers for a quick transition out of the Habs’ defensive zone. As a result of a tight defensive system under Michel Therrien, the Canadiens have only allowed one even-strength goal this season.

So who sits when/if PK Subban re-signs with the Canadiens in the near future?

The defensive pairings are currently the following:

A. Markov-A. Emelin

F. Bouillon-R. Diaz

T. Kaberle-J. Gorges

Extra: Y. Weber

My bet is that Kaberle is the odd man out especially since Subban was Gorges’ defensive partner last season. Kaberle is currently the team’s sixth defenseman and with Subban in the line-up, his presence becomes moot as both Markov and Diaz are manning the point on the team’s first power play unit. Subban would simply slide along Frankie “the Cube” Bouillon on the second unit and get ice time on the penalty kill as well.

As for fellow countryman Yannick Weber, he is the team’s insurance policy until Subban returns, but when he does, look for Marc Bergevin to trade Weber to a desperate team in dire need of defensive help. Hello Detroit!

Buenos Dia(z)!

Read More