With
training camp now just around the corner, let’s take a look at the Montreal
Canadiens’ depth chart.
LEFT WING
|
CENTER
|
RIGHT WING
|
Max Pacioretty
(6’2” 219)
|
Tomas Plekanec
(5’11” 196)
|
Brian Gionta (5’7” 173)
|
Alex Galchenyuk (6’1” 196)
|
Lars Eller (6’2” 209)
|
Brendan Gallagher (5’9” 178)
|
Rene Bourque (6’2” 213)
|
David Desharnais (5’7” 177)
|
Daniel Briere (5’10” 179)
|
Brandon Prust
(6’2” 195)
|
Ryan White
(6’0” 193)
|
George Parros
(6’5” 228)
|
Travis Moen (6’2” 218)
|
Gabriel Dumont
(5’10” 186)
|
Mike Blunden
(6’4” 214)
|
Christian Thomas (5’9” 170)
|
Louis Leblanc
(6’0” 190)
|
Patrick Holland
(6’0” 175)
|
Nick Tarnasky
(6’2” 230)
|
Martin St-Pierre (5’9” 188)
|
Steve Quailer
(6’4” 209
|
|
Joonas Nattinen
(6’2” 187)
|
Stefan Fournier (6’3” 210)
|
|
Michael Bournival (5’11” 191)
|
Sven Andrighetto
(5’10” 180)
|
Josh Gorges (6’1” 203)
|
P.K. Subban
(6’0” 216)
|
Andrei Markov (6’0” 204)
|
Alexei Emelin
(6’2” 219)
|
Francis Bouillon (5’8” 197)
|
Raphael Diaz
(5’11 197)
|
Douglas Murray (6’3” 245)
|
Davis Drewiske (6’2” 220)
|
Nathan Beaulieu (6’2” 194)
|
Greg Pateryn
(6’2” 219)
|
Jarred Tinordi (6’6” 218)
|
Morgan Ellis
(6’1” 202)
|
|
Magnus Nygren (6’1” 192)
|
|
Darren Dietz (6’1” 205)
|
Carey Price
(6’3” 209)
|
Peter Budaj (6’1” 195)
|
Dustin Tokarski (5’11” 198)
|
Robert Mayer
(6’1” 199)
|
Peter Delmas (6’3” 188)
|
*All
players’ heights and weights taken from where they played last season.
I have placed the top five forward lines and the top
four defensive pairings in the order I believe they should look once the season
starts. Michel Therrien may very well have different lines in mind, but I think
these lines maximises the Habs’ assets. As for the bottom of the depth chart, I
placed the players in the order of the ones I think are the closest to the NHL
to the ones we might not see for a while. I won’t write about much about the
goaltending position, as there is not much to say. Now let’s look at the team’s
strength and weaknesses.
Strengths
The Habs have a talented
top-nine forward group and a good physical bottom line. The top-six features a
group of players who are effective at both ends of the ice. The second line can
potentially be a lethal scoring threat, with both Gallys and Eller. The Habs’
third line could be a very effective exploitation line that can take advantage
of the opposition’s weaker players. As for the fourth line, it will get under
the opponent’s skin and shift the momentum of the game.
The Canadiens’ biggest strength
among their forward group is its speed. The team features a bunch of very fast
skaters and they will have to use this to win games, since they don’t have the
most physical team. We can also see that the team is extremely strong on the
left wing as Bourque, Galchenyuk, and Pacioretty are all big players who are
very strong skaters who can score goals in bunches. The team also has the
luxury of having skilled as well as physical players in the AHL, with guys like
St-Pierre and Thomas bringing skill, while Blunden and Leblanc are more
physical and defensive minded. Dumont is eligible for waivers so he will
probably stick with the big club.
Even though I’m still not too
thrilled about Briere’s addition, he still brings some solid offensive support
to the team. He and fellow French Canadian David Desharnais have the talent to
create havoc against the enemy’s third pairing defensemen. With Bourque
creating space for the diminutive forwards, the Montreal Canadiens have one of
the most talented third lines we’ve seen in a while.
As for the defensive corps, Les
Glorieux have a good mix of offensive and defensive defensemen, with the top
six featuring an even split. Diaz, Markov, and Subban will bring some strong
offensive support and puck moving skills while Bouillon, Emelin (when he
returns from his injury), Gorges, and Murray will take care of the physical
defensive play.
Having the reigning Norris trophy
winner is obviously a luxury every team would like to have, and the Habs are
fortunate enough to have him with P.K. Subban. The superstar defender will hope
to repeat last season’s success and be a dominant force on the Habs’ back end
and help in every aspect of the game.
Andrei Markov is another player who
will hope to have a great season. Even though he seemed to run out of gas at
the end of last season, he showed that he can still be a force on the power
play. He and Subban should continue terrorizing the opponent’s penalty killing
team.
The Canadiens also have the luxury
of having a good selection of rearguards in Hamilton with different skill sets.
Drewiske, Pateryn, and Tinordi are good defensive-minded defenders while
Beaulieu and Nygren are both offensive-minded defensemen who can help on the
power play. Ellis and Dietz are good all-round players, but they still need
some seasoning before earning a call-up.
Weaknesses
Like I mentioned a bit earlier, Les
Habitants are not a physical team. With Dumont as their 14th
forward, six of the team’s 14 forwards are below six feet tall (I would
actually say seven, as Prust once said he is 5’11”, but for some reason he is
listed at a generous 6’2”), and eight of them weigh less than 200 pounds as of
now, with five of them playing on the first three lines. I would like to see
Marc Bergevin trade maybe a small body or two and replace them with bigger
bodies.
Another weakness is the lack of true
power forwards. As of right now, only Bourque seems like the closest to match
that definition. Some say that Pacioretty is a true power forward, but I think
he’s more of a big bodied sniper rather than a power forward, as he causes more
damage from the face-off circles and high slot with his lethal wrist-shot in my
opinion. Power forwards, for me, are players who are strong in the corners and
thrive in front of the net with their big bodies. The Habs don’t really have a
player like this and I think they need one.
The last weakness I will point out
about the team’s forward group is the lack of a top-line right winger. I have
nothing against Brian Gionta, as he is a fantastic leader and has the heart of
a lion, but he’s not a first line player anymore. He’s more of a 2nd/3rd
line forward now. Gallagher looks to be his successor, but he’s not ready to
see first line minutes yet. Gionta has been slowed down by injuries and isn’t
the scoring threat he used to be.
As much as the Habs’ defence is well
balanced, it still lacks nastiness and isn’t as strong as it should be. Yes,
Montreal has the latest Norris trophy winner, but after him there is a
significant drop in talent. Markov has obviously lost more than a step in his
game, Gorges is a second pairing defenseman playing top pairing minutes, and
Emelin is injured and still hasn’t established himself as a top-four defender.
Bergevin signed Douglas Murray, a huge physical rearguard, but he is a depth
defenseman with cement feet.
Montreal would have needed a mobile
two-way defender to play along Markov. As much as Markov still has elite on-ice
vision and puck skills, he is now a below-average skater and can’t play over 22
minutes a game anymore.
As for the lack of nastiness I
mentioned, except the Douglas Murray (still having trouble believing this guy
is Swedish with that name), none of the Habs’ defensemen are 6’2” or more and
below 220 lbs. Only Emelin and Murray are real physical threats, and one of
them is injured till Christmas. Tinordi will come in next year to help in that
department, but that will likely come with Murray’s departure. Bergevin will
need to bring in at least another physical presence on his blue line.
The Montreal Canadiens are obviously
a team that will make the playoffs, but they lack the physicality and defensive
corpse I believe is required to aspire for the Stanley Cup. They will get
better as the team’s top young players improve, and with a few tweaks, will be
big contenders for Lord Stanley’s hardware. As of right now however, I don’t
think they have what it takes to win it all, but they are getting there.
