At the Canadiens golf tournament last year, team management didn’t dare say the “P” word, playoffsa subtle way of keeping expectations very low. The discourse evolved at the beginning of the week at the Canadian golf tournament. We now hope to be in the mixa newly invented expression, at least for the Montreal market, and with variable geometry.
The CH managers are right to speak in their own way about an improvement in the workforce. The Canadiens are clearly superior to last year.
A year ago, Nick Suzuki was a good young center, capable of amassing sixty points a season. But a number one center? One outside analyst even dared to say that his contract was one of the worst in the NHL. At 24, Suzuki became the first Canadiens center in three decades to surpass the 75-point mark, with 77 points, including 33 goals. He had 43 points in 41 games in the second half of the season.
Juraj Slafkovsky was a fragile young 19-year-old, only 10 points in 39 games, seriously injured in a shoulder, and a return to the American League to start the season would not have surprised many. This young colossus of 6 feet 3 inches and 230 pounds embedded himself within the first trio and amassed 50 points, including 20 goals. Above all, 35 of his points came in the last 42 games, a ratio of 70 points over a full year.
Many were disappointed with Cole Caufield’s performance. With a production of 28 goals and 65 points, however, the floor remains quite interesting. Also, above all, Martin St-Louis says he made him a “hockey player”, as colleague Guillaume Lefrançois points out in his text today. As a result, he began to leave the periphery, to show more aggression in his battles for the puck and scored 17 goals in his last 42 games.
We add Patrik Laine, once a 44-goal scorer, to the second line, but also Kirby Dach, absent for almost the entire year, but we remove a good soldier, Sean Monahan.
Alex Newhook was a Kent Hughes project. The Colorado Avalanche, looking for a second center, had just dumped him for late first-round and second-round picks, let’s not forget, after a season of only 30 points in 82 games, his second in the NHL, at age 22. His speed was noticed. In 55 games, he produced at a rate of 51 points, including 22 goals. A good mid-lineup player when Demidov, Hage and company are in Montreal.
Josh Anderson and Brendan Gallagher were expected to be on the top three lines last year. Anderson was expected to be the least bad option along with Suzuki and Caufield. With the arrival of Laine, the emergence of Newhook and Joshua Roy and the revival of Joel Armia, they will have to fight to avoid the fourth line.
There are fewer certainties on defense. But Johnathan Kovacevic was on the top pairing for last year’s opener and Jordan Harris was on the third pairing with Arber Xhekaj. Based on Lane Hutson’s short sample size late in the season, the youngster won’t be able to do much worse, even if he’s a much different defenseman than Kovacevic, who was traded this summer to the New Jersey Devils for a fourth-round pick. Young right-handers Justin Barron, Logan Mailloux and David Reinbacher have a year more on their plates.
Among goaltenders, Jake Allen was still considered number one at this time last year, despite a disastrous season the year before. Samuel Montembeault was in the final year of his contract and had not proven himself as a starter. There were questions about whether Cayden Primeau was of National League caliber.
Montembeault has downgraded Allen, who was traded at the trade deadline. He went from a 16-19-3 record with a 3.42 GAA and .901 save percentage to a 16-15-9 record with a 3.14 GAA and .903 save percentage. Beyond the stats, he has allowed this weak club to be competitive in the majority of games.
If all goes well, the Canadian will indeed be… in the mix.
CH wants Jacob Fowler
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Jacob Fowler
First choice, at 11e Ranked by the Nashville Predators in 2020, goaltender Yaroslav Askarov has been considered one of, if not the, top prospects at his position in recent years. He is coming off a 30-13-1 season at age 21, with a 2.39 GAA and .911 save percentage in the AHL.
Askarov was traded to the San Jose Sharks last month for a 2025 first-round pick (the one belonging to the Vegas Golden Knights) and prospect David Edstrom.
However, the Canadian would have previously refused to give up its young goalie Jacob Fowler for Askarov, the distinguished Pierre LeBrun informed us on Wednesday.
This information may surprise many given Askarov’s status. But it proves all the affection of the CH management for its third-round choice in 2023. Fowler, 19, had a splendid first season at Boston College, in the NCAA: record of 32-6-1, average of 2.14 and save percentage of .926.