The Canadian | An advantageous schedule so far

The holiday season is approaching, the return of Cine-Gift too. This will therefore be an opportunity to remember the dialogues that everyone knows, such as the famous “Three parts, I said! », from Getafix to Obelix. “Three slices” because Obelix doesn’t exactly cut the cake into three equal pieces.

The epic of the Gauls in front of Cleopatra leads us, of course, to the calendar of the Canadian, whose first third ended on Saturday with a lackluster defeat in front of the Kings. But is this third equal to the other two?

After 27 games, the Habs are at 21^e ranks in the NHL in terms of points accumulated (.519) and five points from a playoff berth. By maintaining its current pace, the CH would amass 85 points.

Taken coldly, without context, these figures have nothing to do with the perky mood that we perceive from amateurs. Mood that we perceived, in fact, until boos were heard at the Bell Center on Saturday, a rarity since the arrival of Martin St-Louis behind the bench.

Taken against the backdrop of reconstruction, however, one better understands the generally positive sentiment that has been floating around so far. A hint that this team is rebuilding: it has employed four full-time rookie defensemen (at least 20 games played) so far. The other 31 teams on the circuit, combined, employed six. Keeping the boat afloat with so little experience in such a crucial position commands respect.

The quality of opponents

Now that we know better the state of the forces in the NHL, a flat is essential: the biggest tests remain to come as for the quality of the adversaries. It is here that one can wonder if the three thirds of this calendar are really equal.

The disparity is even more striking when we see that the Habs have only played eight games against teams from the top 10 overall, compared to 11 games against the 10 worst teams. Martin St-Louis’ men still delivered honorable performances against the leading ten, but they inflated their record against the 10 dunces.

In the short term, this trend will continue, as Montreal will play three of its next five games against teams ranked among the 10 worst: Ottawa, Anaheim and Arizona.

The result is that the end of the calendar will be particularly strong. Consider the 21 games on the schedule after the March 3 trade deadline; 10 of them — almost half! — will be played against the teams currently in the top ten.

Now let’s take the top five teams in the standings as of Sunday: Boston, New Jersey, Toronto, Winnipeg and Vegas. The Habs only played four games against this great quintet, and showed a record of 1-2-1. The only victory dates back to the inaugural game, against the Maple Leafs.

By the end of the season, the Canadian faces these clubs 10 times.

The importance of evaluation

Why swing all these numbers? Because they must necessarily be part of the evaluation that Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton make of their team. This assessment will dictate decisions made as the trade deadline approaches. Three options present themselves: the liquidation of a few elements (the most probable scenario on paper), the status quo, a question of giving this group the right to fight with all its resources, or the search for reinforcements, a scenario which seems unlikely. .

The future of the center line will be at the heart of these decisions. Saturday’s game served as a reminder that without Sean Monahan, that position is a weakness behind Nick Suzuki. It would be surprising for Hughes to sacrifice a hope or a choice to obtain a center, but if Monahan quickly recovers his health, it will be necessary to decide well if the number 91 is part of the future in Montreal or if it is better to try to monetize it .

When we met with Gorton last week, we asked him if having two first-round picks for a second straight draft gave him the “luxury” of retaining, say, Monahan, and negotiating a contract extension with the veteran center.

The second third of the season takes us to mid-February. It will be interesting to see in what state the Canadian will emerge.