At the halfway point in the season, who would you say is the Habs’ MVP? If I had to choose one, it would be Cole Caufield. His 45 points are only two behind Nick Suzuki, but his 24 goals are 11 more than the captain. The way Caufield had adapted his role as Patrik Laine comes in and out of the lineup shows what a consummate professional and team guy he is.
Nil d’Entremont, Halifax, N.S.
Caufield is having an outstanding year and developing into a solid 200-foot forward who is on pace to finish the season with 45 goals. But my vote for MVP at the midway point would go to Hutson.
The rookie defenceman has provided a huge spark to the team offensively and has also proved he can play defence in the NHL — which was the biggest question mark about him entering the league because of his size.
Hutson’s game has really taken off since the Canadiens acquired defenceman Alexandre Carrier from the Nashville Predators on Dec. 18 and veteran Mike Matheson became Hutson’s regular defence partner. In the 13 games since the trade that sent Justin Barron to Nashville, Hutson has 2-12-14 totals and a plus-10 differential. The Canadiens have a 10-2-1 record in those 13 games.
Hutson was minus-14 before the trade.
I was just reading Brendan Kelly’s column about Lane Hutson (What the Puck: Canadiens rookie Lane Hutson wowing fans) and he noted scouts were concerned about his size — 5-foot-9 and 162 pounds. A famous Canadien, the elder captain Yvan Cournoyer, played at a stately, statuesque 5-foot-7 and and 172 pounds. Pretty good company, Lane.
Grant Manson, Brampton, Ont.
A lack of size definitely didn’t hurt Cournoyer, who won 10 Stanley Cups during his 16 seasons as a forward with the Canadiens and finished his Hall of Fame career with 428-435-863 totals in 968 games. Like Cournoyer, Hutson’s skill, speed and compete level make up for what he lacks in size.
The fact Hutson is a defenceman makes his lack of size more of a challenge and what he is doing as a 20-year-old rookie even more impressive. When Cournoyer was 20, he started the 1963-64 season with the Montreal Junior Canadiens, posting 63-48-111 totals in 53 games before getting called up by the Canadiens and scoring four goals in five games. He started the next season with the AHL’s Quebec Aces, playing seven games there before earning a regular spot with the Canadiens and posting 7-10-17 totals in 55 games in his rookie season.
Hutson leads all NHL rookies in scoring this season with 3-33-36 totals in 44 games. He is four points ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers’ Matvei Michkov and the San Jose Sharks’ Macklin Celebrini, who are both forwards with identical 13-19-32 totals. Hutson also ranks first among rookies in ice time with an average of 22:40 per game. Celebrini is second at 19:38. The Flyers’ Emil Andrae ranks second among rookie defencemen in scoring with 1-4-5 totals — 31 points behind Hutson.
Am I too excited about the future with the Canadiens? I’m getting nervous.
Michael Armstrong
There is good reason to be excited about the future and not much reason to be nervous.
Ivan Demidov, the fifth overall pick at last year’s NHL Draft, has 15-20-35 totals in 44 games this season with St. Petersburg SKA in the KHL and the 19-year-old forward should give the Canadiens another offensive boost next season.
Owen Beck, 20, is having an impressive rookie season in the AHL with the Laval Rocket, posting 9-16-25 totals in 36 games to go along with a plus-10 differential as a 200-foot centreman who can win faceoffs. Joshua Roy, 21, leads the Rocket in scoring with 14-13-27 totals in 33 games and Jared Davidson has 14-10-24 totals in 33 games. Roy (2021) and Davidson (2022) were both fifth-round draft picks by the Canadiens.
Michael Hage, selected 21st overall at last year’s NHL Draft, has 11-13-24 totals in 20 games as an 18-year-old freshman at the University of Michigan.
Defenceman David Reinbacher, who suffered a knee injury during the pre-season that was expected to sideline him for 5-6 months, has started skating again and the fifth overall pick at the 2023 NHL Draft should be able to play some games with the Rocket — and possibly the Canadiens — before the end of this season. The Rocket beat the Utica Comets 3-2 Friday night, improving their record to 23-10-3 under head coach Pascal Vincent and and moving into first place in the North Division.
Goalie Jakub Dobes has a 4-0-0 record, a 0.98 goals-against average, a .963 save percentage and one shutout with the Canadiens since getting called up from the Rocket to replace Cayden Primeau. Meanwhile, goalie prospect Jacob Fowler continues to shine at Boston College, making 24 saves Friday night to record his fifth shutout of the season in a 3-0 win over Providence. Fowler improved his record to 14-3-1 with a 1.74 GAA and a .932 save percentage.
Canadiens fans have a lot to be excited about.
Did this Canadiens team turn the corner, or is the run they’re having kind of a fluke?
Hellsinski on X — @Hellsinsk1
This run has become much more than just a fluke.
Over the last 20 games — basically one-quarter of a season — the Canadiens have a 14-5-1 record and a plus-15 goal differential. That includes an embarrassing 9-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Bell Centre on Dec. 12 that might have been the turning point in the season.
The Canadiens are 8-1-1 over their last 10 games, including road wins over the defending Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers, the Tampa Bay Lighting, the Vegas Golden Knights, the Colorado Avalanche, the Washington Capitals and the Dallas Stars. Those aren’t easy teams to beat — especially on the road.
The Canadiens now have an 11-11-1 record on the road.
As this team improves, there is less room for marginal players who make minimal contributions. I respect what Michael Pezzetta has done for Montreal, but he doesn’t really make the team better. How long can they continue to give him a chair and what are the options?
Matt Crawford
Pezzetta was put in a really tough position this season. He was made a healthy scratch for the first six games, played in the next three games and was then made a healthy scratch again for 28 consecutive games before Patrik Laine was sidelined with the flu. Pezzetta got to play in four consecutive games before being made a healthy scratch for one more game.
It’s hard for anyone to play well when they sit out that long.
I thought the Canadiens would call up another forward from Laval after Emil Heineman was struck by a car as a pedestrian Monday in Utah and it was announced he will be out 3-4 weeks with an upper-body injury (wrist). Instead, the Canadiens decided to put Pezzetta back in the lineup for the last two games. I believe that was partly as a reward to Pezzetta for being such a great teammate, never complaining while sitting out so many games. He’s also well-liked in the locker room.
Pezzetta didn’t do himself any favours by taking a penalty in the first period of both games and I expect the Canadiens will call someone up from Laval this weekend with games at the Bell Centre against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday (7 p.m., CBC, SN, TVA Sports) and the New York Rangers on Sunday (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS).
Pezzetta is in the final season of his contract and it has become obvious he doesn’t have a future with the Canadiens beyond that. I imagine the Canadiens will keep Pezzetta around as their extra forward this season unless he asks to go play some games in Laval.
With the injury to Emil Heineman should the Habs consider bringing a player up from Laval and who is the best suited?
Yardie in T.O. @sanman_11
As noted above, I think the Canadiens will call someone up from Laval and they have a few choices, including Beck, Roy and Davidson. There’s also veteran Laval forward Alex Barré-Boulet, who started the season with the Canadiens and has 7-19-26 totals in 29 games with the Rocket.
My pick would be Beck since I think he could play a key role with the Canadiens in the future and it would be a good chance to see if he’s ready now.
Wayne Gretzky used to say you miss 100 per cent of the shots you don’t take. With the exception of Cole Caulfield and maybe Mike Matheson, nobody on the Habs consistently puts shots on net. They often miss wide — very wide. What can be done about that?
Dick Labete
While it might seem like the Canadiens miss the net a lot, after Thursday’s 3-1 win over the Stars in Dallas they only ranked 23rd in the NHL in missed shots with 598 — an average of 13.6 per game. The Carolina Hurricanes ranked first with 857 — an average of 19 per game. Against the Stars, the Canadiens had 24 shots on goal and 17 missed shots.
The Canadiens don’t generally get a lot of shots on goal and do need to shoot more. As this young team continues to gain confidence I think that will happen organically. The Canadiens ranked 29th in the NHL in shots with with an average of 25.6 per game after Thursday’s game. Caufield leads the team with 130 shots — which ranked 30th in the NHL after Thursday’s game — followed by Suzuki with 88. Slafkovsky is a player who definitely needs to shoot more. His 52 shots ranked 350th in the NHL after Thursday’s game.
When it comes to missed shots, Caufield also leads the Canadiens with 60, followed by Hutson with 45 and Brendan Gallagher and Slafkovsky with 41 each. Nobody needs to tell Caufield to shoot the puck.
Please get out the tarot cards, ouija board or contact your friendly palm reader to find out who might be leaving or coming to Montreal from now until the trade deadline. What’s being said or felt?
Ed Helinski, Auburn, N.Y.
There are going to be all kinds of trade rumours before the March 7 NHL deadline, but as the late, great Red Fisher of The Gazette used to say: “I don’t deal in rumours.”
What happens concerning the Canadiens will depend a lot on where they are in the playoff race at the deadline. I’d be very surprised if Christian Dvorak isn’t moved. If GM Kent Hughes gets a good offer for David Savard, I expect he will also move the 34-year-old defenceman. I don’t believe either of those two players are part of the team’s future plans. Savard’s leadership, penalty-killing and steady play as a partner with Arber Xhekaj will be missed if he is traded, which is why I believe Hughes will keep Savard if he doesn’t get a real good offer.
I’d expect the Canadiens to re-sign Jake Evans before the trade deadline and Hughes will have a tough decision to make concerning Joel Armia, who is playing some very good hockey. Both those players, along with Dvorak and Savard, can become unrestricted free agents on July 1.
Are the Habs working with a hitting coach? I have really noticed a significant improvement with their hitting/physicality. Great to see teams continue to develop at this level. Money spent on development doesn’t count against the salary cap — this is how Montreal can get an edge.
John on X — @John23783599305
The Canadiens don’t have a hitting coach, but they have been physical this season, ranking 12th in the NHL in hits after Thursday’s game with 1,061 — an average of 24.25 per game.
The Canadiens had 33 hits in Thursday’s win over the Stars, led by Armia with eight. Heineman leads the Canadiens with 101 hits before getting injured, which is one more than Xhekaj and three more than Josh Anderson and Slafkovsky. Heineman was averaging only 11:09 of ice time per game, which makes his hit total even more impressive.
The Canadiens did officially hire former NHLer Marc Bureau as a faceoff consultant this week after he had already spent some time working with the team’s centremen. The Canadiens rank 21st in the NHL on faceoffs, winning 49.4 per cent.
I’m a firm believer Andrei Markov deserves to be put on the Ring of Honour at the Bell Centre. What’s your feelings on this?
Sheri Taylor
While Markov had a distinguished 16-year career with the Canadiens, the Ring of Honour at the Bell Centre is reserved for Hall of Famers. So unless Markov gets inducted into the Hall of Fame — and I don’t see that happening — he won’t be put in the Ring of Honour.
I do wish Markov would have been able to finish his playing career with the Canadiens and reach the 1,000-game mark but, unfortunately, former general manager Marc Bergevin decided not to make that happen. It’s a milestone Markov would have loved to reach, but a contract dispute with Bergevin got in the way.
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