The face of the Canadiens’ defense has changed greatly since last year, but that doesn’t prevent defense coach Luke Richardson from believing that the Montreal organization is heading in the right direction.
Captain Shea Weber will likely no longer play for the Habs, and teammate Ben Chiarot was traded at the trade deadline. The future of another pillar, Jeff Petry, seems more than uncertain with the Montreal team.
To compensate, young hopefuls such as Corey Schueneman, Jordan Harris and Justin Barron joined the group. Richardson is well aware that their arrival will bring the set of challenges that usually accompanies young, inexperienced defensemen in the NHL. However, this does not prevent him from being optimistic for the future.
“We’ve lost a lot of experience since last year, especially at the trade deadline last month,” Richardson first acknowledged Wednesday. Things change quickly in this league, so you have to adapt quickly. Especially with the new philosophy of “Marty” [St-Louis], geared towards speed. The two young [Barron et Harris] correspond perfectly to his requirements, because they are very good skaters. »
“But it’s not a development league. You want to offer opportunities to young people, without however burning them out if they experience difficulties. Fortunately for us, [Barron et Harris] have been playing very well since their arrival. So you have to balance things. Guys like “Ed” [Joel Edmundson] and “Savvy” [David Savard] help a lot to calm the game — not only on the ice, but on the bench as well. They can help these young players even more than the coaches,” continued Richardson.
Admittedly Barron, paired with Edmundson Tuesday night in a 6-3 loss to the Ottawa Senators.
“They are very pleasant to be around. It’s two guys [Edmundson et Savard] who have a ton of NHL experience. It was good to play with “Eddy”; he really helped me calm down in my first games here, especially when we were playing the Florida Panthers, the Carolina Hurricanes and the Tampa Bay Lightning, three clubs among the league’s elite. It was nice to have a more experienced guy on my side,” admitted Barron.
Interim head coach Martin St-Louis also gave a positive assessment of the recent performances of his defensive squad.
“We have a good mix of young players and veterans, big players and mobile players. In general, I have the impression that they [les défenseurs] give us quality minutes on the rink. They all play a different role, depending on their style of play, but collectively they do a good job, ”said the Quebecer.
A tightly knit group
While Barron agrees he’s still not very familiar with Richardson, the 20-year-old defender has heard some very good things about him, it seems.
“I was only able to spend a few days with him before he contracted COVID-19 and we hit the road, but it was good to have him behind our bench [hier]. He looks like a good guy; he has an incredible wealth of experience having played more than 1,000 career NHL games. Everyone seems to like him, so yes I can’t wait to develop my relationship with him,” Barron said.
The defenders of the Canadian nevertheless seem to form a tightly knit group, despite the fact that they do not know each other a lot and that the chemistry is still to be developed between them. This could be a guarantee of long-term success for the organization, according to Richardson.
“It’s the sign of a good team,” he explained. It was ingrained here last year, and it’s not going away overnight. We have our culture, and we are not satisfied with the results this season, but we will do everything to get back to the top. It might take a little time, with a different group, but we’ll get there. ‘”Eddie”‘ [Edmundson] and “Savvy” [Savard] have already won, and they bring a lot to our team at this level. And they have a lot of fun with the young players in the group. They see them as their peers, not as recruits.
“And that will greatly speed up the process of reviving the team,” he assured.