Installment no. 15 of our 25 Canadiens in 25 days series puts diminutive forward David Desharnais under the microscope.
He’s the Rodney Dangerfield of Quebec; Desharnais gets no respect in his home province.
No French Canadian hockey player can escape the ridiculous amount of scrutiny that comes with playing for the Canadiens, and Desharnais has had to deal with more than his fair share over the years.
But he takes it all in stride — even the worst of it. Like when Montreal mayor Denis Coderre took to twitter in 2013 to suggest the Canadiens demote Desharnais to the AHL while he was mired in a career-worst 19-game scoring slump to start the season. Talk about piling on…
Desharnais responded with two assists and a shootout winner in Montreal’s next game and managed 51 points in his final 60 games of the 2013-14 season.
But when it comes to criticism, Mayor Coderre’s tweet was just the tip of the iceberg. So many Canadiens fans continue to insist Desharnais is nothing more than the beneficiary of preferred treatment from coach Michel Therrien. They also credit all of his offensive success to him riding Max Pacioretty’s coattails.
While it’s true Desharnais has had to punch above his weight class for most of his NHL career, that’s had much more to do with Montreal’s lack of depth at centre than it has with Therrien’s favouritism. And Pacioretty would be the first to admit that a lot of his own success has been the result of Desharnais’ playmaking ability.
To deny that Desharnais has indomitable will and extraordinary vision and skill is to ignore his history.
He scored 374 points in 262 QMJHL games with the Chicoutimi Sagueneens. Regardless, he was passed over in both of his years of NHL draft eligibility.
But that didn’t stop Desharnais.
In his first professional season, he led the ECHL in scoring with 106 points in 68 games before adding 33 points in 22 playoff games to lead the Cincinnati Cyclones to their first Kelly Cup. By year’s end, he was named league MVP and rookie of the year.
In 183 AHL contests, mostly played for the Hamilton Bulldogs, Desharnais scored 183 points. He also managed 27 points in 25 career Calder Cup playoff games.
Since then, Desharnais has scored 211 points in 339 NHL games and earned himself quite the reputation as a shootout specialist.
Yet people still talk about his four-year, $14 million contract as though it were an anchor dragging the Canadiens down to the depths of the standings.
He might not have the size or the speed to be considered elite, but the Canadiens have been pretty good since Desharnais signed his contract, and denying his part in that is just another sign of disrespect.
Good thing he can handle it.
Who: David Desharnais | No. 51 | Second line, left wing/centre (shoots left) | 5-foot-7 | 176 lbs | Age: 29
Acquired: Signed as a UFA (2008)
Contract status: 4 years, $3.5M AAV (expires 2017)
2014-15 Stats: 82 GP | 14 G | 34 A | 48 P | 17:14 TOI | 51.0 CF%
Career stats: 339 GP | 64 G | 147 A | 211 P | 15:32 TOI | 51.3 CF%
The book on 2014-15:
The 2014-15 season wasn’t Desharnais’ best in the NHL.
He stumbled out of the blocks with just seven points in his first 16 games, and his spotty production leading into December saw him moved to the wing for just the second time in his career. (The first was for five games during the 2010-11 Stanley Cup Playoffs).
He performed admirably there before regaining his position at centre. Desharnais then scored 27 of his 48 points from January 1 to the end of the regular season.
Where Desharnais really faltered was on the power play, recording just 11 points despite averaging 2:23 per game there.
It may not have been his most productive season, but he showed improvement in certain areas. Desharnais posted a plus-22 and 52.9 per cent efficiency in the face-off circle, setting career highs in both categories.
But his playoff production was truly disappointing. With just a goal and two assists in 11 games — he missed Game 2 of the Tampa series due to illness — his performance left a lot to be desired.
Off-season updates:
Desharnais spent most of his summer at home in Quebec.
There was this unsettling image of him in a Boston Bruins jersey from his participation in a charity hockey game organized by Simon Gagne and Patrice Bergeron.
2015-16 outlook:
If he’s healthy, and if he remains in Montreal’s top six, there’s no reason to think Desharnais can’t once again top 50 points. But those are big ifs.
The Canadiens have committed to moving Alex Galchenyuk to centre, which could mean an extended look at wing for Desharnais. And there’s no semblance of how he might fare in the long-term from that position.
If the experiment is going to work, it’ll have to be on the left side of one of Montreal’s top two lines. Desharnais doesn’t have the defensive chops to thrive in a shutdown role and moving him to wing on the team’s third line means a lot of defensive zone starts, which would hinder productivity.
When you consider all of that, it seems that Desharnais’ days as a Canadien may very well be numbered.
