Where the Montreal Canadiens are through a quarter of the NHL season isn’t necessarily a complete shocker. What the Habs really are, though, is a riddle so baffling it could cause the most seasoned hockey brain to smoke.
After a spring in which his team advanced to the Eastern Conference final, Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin spent the summer affirming the fact Montreal was all in on its youth.
P.K. Subban, 25, signed massive eight-year, $72-million contract and was given an alternate captain’s ‘A’ along with the team’s best offensive forward, 26-year-old Max Pacioretty. Third-year left winger Alex Galchenyuk was poised for a much larger role as the Canadiens said good-bye to former captain Brian Gionta up front and seasoned veteran Josh Gorges on the back end.
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If, at the start of this NHL season, somebody told you Montreal would wake up on U.S. Thanksgiving tied with the Anaheim Ducks for the most points in the league, you’d probably give a small shrug and assume Subban was an early front-runner for the Norris Trophy, Galchenyuk was realizing his point-per-game potential and Pacioretty’s quick stick was taking the power play to new heights.
And, naturally, you’d be a complete turkey, going 0-for-3.
Montreal’s season has been so mystifying that it’s almost as if the Canadiens are determined to become the NHL’s version of a red, white and blue inkblot, serving to illuminate the psychological makeup of their observers.
Whether you’re a believer or not, there’s more than enough good and bad to go around. Let’s dive in.
The Good
Start with the obvious; their spot in the standings. Regardless of how they came to acquire 33 points, the Canadiens have them in their pocket now and the cache they’ve accumulated will be crucial when the inevitable rough patches arise
Montreal’s support players have been fantastic, most notably Manny Malhotra. The centre is as important to his team as it’s possible for a fourth-liner with zero goals to be. Signed by Bergevin to help the Habs start plays with the puck more, Malhotra has done just that, winning a league-best 62.3 percent of his draws.
The Canadiens, in fact, are the NHL’s top team at the dot, which is a huge change for a club that hasn’t been ranked in the top half of the league in that category since 2008-09—when it was 14th.
The third line of Lars Eller between Brandon Prust and free agent signee Jiri Sekac has also begun to provide some valued scoring depth, while right winger Dale Weise has been a great swingman, playing up and down the lineup.
The arrival of Malhotra has also freed up Tomas Plekanec to play a more offensive role. The dependable two-way centre has responded and is on pace for roughly 61 points, which would represent his best total since he put up a career-best 70 in 2009-10.
Carey Price may not have a sparkling save percentage or goals-against average, but he is absolutely the MVP of a team that gives up too many shots and scoring chances.
For a guy who doesn’t really have a first-rate running mate on the No. 1 line, Pacioretty continues to produce. He leads the team in scoring and figures to once again push toward 40 goals.
Bergevin himself deserves a ton of credit for the way he’s handled this team. Already this season the GM has made two shrewd moves by shipping out superfluous forwards Rene Bourque and Travis Moen, clearing significant space against next year’s salary cap without negatively impacting his club. And one of the players Bergevin got in return, Sergei Gonchar, has been a pleasant surprise on the blueline. The Habs’ definitely have a capable man at the helm.
The Bad
You basically can’t find a stat outside the most crucial ones (wins and points) that flatter Montreal.
Detroit Red Wings bench boss Mike Babcock is the most respected coach in the league and when Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman recently asked him about the league’s elite outfits, Babcock used goal differential as the determining factor. The Canadiens are currently just plus-4, which slots them behind a dozen teams in that category.
There’s no talking about the Habs without touching on their blowout defeats. In Montreal’s six regulation setbacks, the team has been outscored 30-3. The Canadiens don’t have wins and losses; they have wins and catastrophes.
Filing the performance of P.K. Subban under ‘bad’ isn’t completely fair, but a ‘not quite living up to his own lofty standard of play’ header is just wordy and awkward.
Subban is still on pace for 47 points, which is nothing to sneeze at. That said, the 2013 Norris Trophy winner—who was unbelievable for Montreal in the 2014 playoffs—has looked a touch out of sorts. Subban’s struggles are often rooted in trying to do too much and, after an off-season in which he inked a lucrative deal and was given a letter, it stands to reason that the star defenceman’s engine is revving a bit too high.
The blueline corps, as a whole, has had its ups and downs and certainly doesn’t have the look of a top unit in the league.
The Canadiens’ pathetic power play is really quite puzzling. Granted, the team did not thrive with the man advantage last year, it’s still hard to wrap your brain around why a unit with Subban and Andrei Markov at the point continues to sputter. Gonchar provided a bit of a bump when he arrived, but the Habs are still converting just 12.7 percent of their power play chances, worse than all but four teams in the NHL.
When you lay it all out, it’s difficult to believe the Canadiens won’t lose more frequently during the final three-quarters of the season than they have through 23 games. But given how well they’ve started, that’s not the end of the world. And don’t gloss over the fact this team was picked by many to be a contender in the East.
So while the results will likely start to even out, it’s entirely possible Montreal is the rare first-place club that’s best hockey is still to come. And you could certainly argue it better be.