BROSSARD, Que.—You had to be thinking it as the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins traded close to 80 hits in a playoff-style game on Saturday night. As Kevan Miller stapled Jonathan Drouin to the boards or as Drouin did the same to Brad Marchand. As Brendan Gallagher and Miller exchanged a spear and a crosscheck or as Charles Hudon threw two massive hits in a shift — he had 13 total in just over nine minutes of ice time. Even as Max Domi ran over David Pastrnak.
This one was tailor-made for Shea Weber.
Had the six-foot-four, 230-pound captain been playing, the Canadiens might have walked away with a 3-2 win instead of the 3-2 loss they suffered.
The top blue-liner, who’s averaged over 24 minutes per game over his career, might have also helped the Canadiens avoid a 28th-place finish in the standings last season had he been healthy for a single one of their games. And he might have pushed them to an even better start than the 11-8-5 record they’ve pieced together so far this season — helping their power play connect on more than 14.9 per cent of its opportunities and helping them cut down on goals against (they’ve allowed the fifth-most in the league).
The good news is that you can finally put the hypotheticals to rest. Weber is making his return to the Canadiens’ lineup on Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes.
No, he’s not going to solve all of the team’s problems on his own. But his presence alone is going to make a tangible difference.
That might have to suffice for the time being. There are no guarantees Weber can — coming off summer surgeries to repair tendons in his right ankle and the meniscus ligament in his left knee — just jump right in and immediately play as effectively as he has for most of his career.
It’s also been 344 days since Weber last appeared in an NHL game, and even he knows it’s going to take time for him to regain his rhythm and be depended on in the role the Canadiens ultimately need him to play.
“I’ve done enough bag-skating over the last month, I think I should be alright,” Weber said in anticipation of his first game as Canadiens captain. “Then again, it’s also not game situations. So that’s going to take a little while to get into that shape and used to playing that. You have to start simple and not expect to come back and take everything and go that way. You just have to take little steps at a time, baby steps.”
How the Canadiens intended to make room for the big man was a mystery up until Monday, when they placed 30-year-old veteran Karl Alzner on waivers.
It was a move Canadiens coach Claude Julien classified as one that enables them to keep their defensive depth intact, saying that with many teams around the league pining for cheap defencemen to become available for free via waivers, exposing Alzner and his annual cap hit of $4.625 million through 2022 was their safest option to exercise.
With that resolved, the focus is now on how Julien will integrate Weber into the mix and assemble his pairings to balance out the minutes and ensure he’s not overtaxing him.
David Schlemko appears poised to start on Weber’s left come Tuesday, with Brett Kulak forming a pair with Jeff Petry and Victor Mete skating with Jordie Benn.
Julien said the thinking was to pair Weber with an experienced partner who’s poised with the puck, to get another look at Kulak — who’s only played two games with the Canadiens — and to move Mete up with Weber if need be after the 20-year-old played his best game of the season on Saturday.
“We’re prepared for any scenario right now,” said Julien.
The captain has no preference one way or the other.
“I’ve watched this year go and everyone plays with everyone, so I don’t think it’s set in stone,” said Weber. “Guys are going to have to adjust and be ready to play with whoever. I thought we had a great practice today but we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
He said he’ll be nervous come morning, but he’s hopeful those feelings will dissipate as soon as he gets through his first shift.
The Canadiens have to be hoping for the same, as they try to snap a four-game losing streak against a Carolina team that’s only two points back of them in the standings.
They should just be thankful Weber’s returning three weeks ahead of schedule. They no longer have to wonder what life might be like with him at their disposal.
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