The Four Nations break has arrived for the Montréal Canadiens, and it couldn’t come soon enough. The Canadiens fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 on home ice Sunday.
The Canadiens finished their last nine games with only one win.
Wilde Horses
The best Canadiens forward this weekend was Josh Anderson. He moved on to the second line with Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook, and he changed that line from playing primarily in the defensive zone to getting a lot of attack time.
Anderson earned a breakaway in the first period. It was Lane Hutson who made a 150-foot seeing-eye pass to free him. Anderson was hooked from behind, and a penalty shot was awarded. Anderson missed his shot, but it is another good sign for Anderson. He is a perfect forechecker for the Dach line.
The Canadiens were down 2-0 before scoring late in the first period and Newhook was the architect. He uses his speed only a small portion of the amount he should and could. On the power play, Newhook won the blue line, then fed the puck to Brendan Gallagher who snapped it home.
In the second period, the Canadiens counted another. It was a Christian Dvorak shot from the high slot that took a deflection. It came just after an impressive attempt by Juraj Slafkovsky who ripped a shot off the crossbar. The release was fast. The shot was powerful. He has to show that shot more.
Lane Hutson was given reduced ice time in the first period, but he recovered with an excellent second frame. He was the best defender during a stretch where it seemed impossible to take him off the puck when he was dangling.
The Canadiens kept the fight going in the third period. A loose puck came to Gallagher and he scored his second of the afternoon. It was a carbon copy of his first goal – same location of the shot on the left side and high slot, same location on the net finding the far side.
Overall, the lead horse for the rebuild was the development of Owen Beck. It was the first chance in the NHL this season for Beck to play at centre, and did he ever nail it. It’s a small sample size as Beck only had 10 minutes of ice, but he was outstanding.
Beck was moved to centre with Patrik Laine and Joel Armia. Dach with Laine was an absolute nightmare as the two got caved in repeatedly. However, with Beck, the line was outstanding.
Beck’s line managed a 100 Goals Expected share with no shots against or attempted when he was on the ice. Beck’s line also had an 83 Corsi. Beck is such a heady player – he is in the right spot all the time defensively. He has superb vision of the ice and he doesn’t leave the zone too soon.
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With all of that defensive acumen, Beck doesn’t find himself out of energy or resolve offensively either. He is tenacious on the attack, he works hard and smart for every inch. These are terrific moments for Beck. It appears he has the tools for success.
Wilde Goats
Two goals against on two shots and there was nothing that Jakub Dobes could do about either of them. On the first goal against, Slafkovsky had the puck on his stick in his own zone. He couldn’t make his decision fast enough, and ended up turning it over. On the second goal, Hutson tried a pinch that didn’t work, and afterward, it carnage defensively. It was a 2-on-0 when defender Victor Hedman scored. Head Coach Martin St. Louis was so upset that he put the lines in a blender.
Slafkovsky was taken off the first line as Jake Evans moved from centre to wing in an unusual move. Slafkovsky moved on to a line with Christian Dvorak and Gallagher.
On the next shift, Laine was so upset at the bench when it was done that he slammed his stick against the boards. The toll was heavy on everyone with only one win in their last nine games.
In the second period, it fell apart for Dobes, or, at least, it fell apart in the eyes of the head coach. Dobes lost his balance on the third goal, and fell. He was out of position for the Brayden Point shot. That’s just an unlucky moment, but Dobes lost his turn in the game to Samuel Montembeault.
Martin St. Louis is showing a lack of patience with his players in the last two weeks. That might not be a good strategy for a young team who wasn’t expected to be better than this anyway. Historically, when a head coach shows a short leash for his players, he is, ultimately, shortening his own leash.
Wilde Cards
Mercifully, for the Montréal Canadiens, the Four Nations break is two weeks. Only a short time ago, the Canadiens were in the final wild-card spot surging with excitement. However, they hit the wall, and now it’s a completely different script.
In the final 26 games, to get to the 93 points it will likely take to make the playoffs, the Canadiens have to win 19 games and lose only seven. For a club that hovers around .500 for an entire year, that simply is not going to happen.
The slide in 16 short days has changed the trading deadline plan for the club leading up to March 7. The scuttlebutt in NHL circles is the Four Nations break is going to be a busy one for general managers who will use the time to plan for the future.
The Canadiens have three futures, and they are all very distinct from each other at the moment. The immediate future is prepare for full sell action on their unrestricted free agents. Choices have to be made for Dvorak, Armia, Jake Evans and David Savard.
Popular consensus is Dvorak will not be given an offer by the club, Savard is expected to get a one-year offer, Evans will get a serious offer of three years, and Armia will get a serious offer as well. If the players reject their offers to hit the open market, then they will be traded.
There is no logic to keeping these players for culture reasons with only 20 games remaining. The culture won’t be won or lost because the club is woefully weak in the last quarter of the season. Weak is better as they organically try to get a higher draft pick. More prospects will get a taste of the NHL as well.
This Canadiens trading deadline will also be about expediting success for next season. The weaknesses on the roster have to be filled. If General Manager Kent Hughes can acquire a second-line centre and a 3-4 defender, he will make those moves for next year.
The goal with this trade is to not mortgage the future while improving the short-term. Expect a carbon-copy of the Justin Barron for Alexandre Carrier trade. Hughes will give up second- and third-round draft choices to strengthen the roster.
There is even a possibility that trading away Montreal’s first-rounder is attractive. If the player coming back has a long-term future with Montreal, they will make that deal. Rumours of Trevor Zegras last year, and Dylan Cozens this year are all about this long-term goal of trading picks and prospects for a long-term solution up front.
The final goal leading to early March is to make sure that no choices are made that make only 2025-26 attractive while forfeiting success in the ten seasons that follow. Management has their eyes on the prize, and the prize is long-term success. There will be no trades that hurt the long-term growth of the club.
Hughes has been able to trade his free-agents over the years for first-round draft picks. That is not likely to happen this year as none of the four UFAs will fetch first-round picks – they aren’t strong enough players.
Also, GMs are understanding that there is only one parade, and a short-term rental for a first-round pick is not working sufficiently in the playoffs to warrant such long-term destruction to their rosters.
For the Canadiens, they may feel down about the last two weeks, but they got a taste of greatness, and now realize that the club can put success together for extended periods. Last year, they definitely weren’t the best team in the league over a 15-game stretch, but they were this year, so there is cause for belief.
The next goal for 2025-26 is to be the best team in the league for 30 games and not just 15. All that is needed is to fill a couple roster holes, and wait for these prospects to arrive and mature. It’s an exciting time for the Canadiens, even if it doesn’t feel like it today.
Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.
