ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | MONTREAL, QC. — The Montreal hockey market is known league-wide as one of the most impatient and volatile. One day, the media and fans will love you, the next, not so much.
Some players thrive in this setting, while others struggle to handle the pressure. While it is important to maintain optimism, it is equally as important to be realistic.
Barring a 2020-esque run, the Canadiens will not be competing for a playoff spot this year; if anything, they will be competing for the valuable number one overall pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. As a rebuilding franchise, Habs fans should start to come to terms with reality regarding certain players.
Hockey is a business, and while everyone has their favourite players, it’s important to remember and be aware of the most important thing: wins.
Obviously, the management has shown that there is a clear core that will be the future of this franchise for years to come, but there are also players who we should expect to be in different uniforms soon enough.
Players We Should Expect to Stick Around
Nick Suzuki
The 31st, and youngest, Montreal Canadiens captain is Nick Suzuki. Now, if that sentence doesn’t say a ‘long-term player’, I don’t know what does. The two-way center, with obvious offensive ability, signed a $63 million contract extension with the Habs, totaling over eight years. It is clear how valuable Suzuki is to his teammates and coaches, and how highly they regard him.
Cole Caufield
Taking a proven strategy, and emulating it, is always a recipe for success and that recipe includes Cole Caufield. Successful teams have proven that a great center always needs his goal-scoring winger. Patrice Bergeron has Brad Marchand, Braden Point has Nikita Kucherov, and Nathan MacKinnon has Mikko Rantanen. It’s hopeful that the Suzuki – Caufield duo has the potential to reach these levels, especially with the duo gaining chemistry at such a young age. Since the hiring of Marty St. Louis, Caufield has displayed his elite goal-scoring ability.
Caufield is currently in his final year of his entry-level contract, so the curiosity of the value of his extension is in the mind’s of all Habs fans. But many would all agree that he has earned a long-term contract with the Canadiens.
Kaiden Guhle
When the Habs drafted Kaiden Guhle with the 16th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, many fans did not know what to expect. Two years later, after he won the Most Valuable Player in the WHL playoffs, Montreal was extremely excited to see him in the lineup, and rightfully so.
In only his fourth career game, against the Penguins on October 17th, not only did he rack up two assists, but arguably his most impressive stat of the night was the time on the ice he spent against Sidney Crosby, “one of the greatest of all time” in his own words.
According to @NatStatTrick, Kaiden Guhle was up against Sidney Crosby for 15:28 of the Penguins captain’s 18:58 tonight. Helped hold him to zero points and just one shot on net.
— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) October 18, 2022
The trust that the 20-year-old has already gained, by playing top-pairing minutes, makes him one of the Canadiens most exciting pieces going forward.
Youth Earning Trust
Funny enough during the only 3-vs-3 overtime action we have seen in the 2022-23 season, St. Louis had the confidence to start the Suzuki, Caufield and Guhle, a 23, 21, and 20-year-old player. Let’s prepare to see a lot of these three players for years to come.
Players Who Won’t Be Sticking Around
With a 2023 draft class top-heavy with talent and solid depth, it would not be a surprise teams will be trying to acquire as many draft picks as possible.
That being said, it is important to identify players who could bring value to another team.
Mike Hoffman
It’s fair to say that the Mike Hoffman experiment has had its ups and downs. The 32-year-old veteran is on a long list of Canadiens who is not earning his contract. Hoffman has certainly been a target of negative attention by the Montreal media this season and by extension the fans.
But pro scouts pay little attention to the local media. And they know that Hoffman has been top three on the Canadiens this season in Corsi for percentage and high-danger scoring chances and fourth in expected goals. He remains a valuable asset for the right team.
Hoffman was showcased by St. Louis on the top line with Caufield and Suzuki on October 27th against the Sabres. That lineup slot has been a revolving door this season as the head coach continues to find the right linemate for the Suzuki-Caufield pair. While it’s important to identify the right match for the top line, it’s also important for the coach to put veterans in a position to succeed allowing Kent Hughes to obtain the best value for them.
First Road Win | RECAP: MTL @ BUF
David Savard
The Habs defenseman prospect pool is something to be extremely excited about, and as a 32-year-old veteran, David Savard can definitely be useful to some other teams. With a Stanley Cup on his resume, his experience could be very valuable to a contending team.
Guhle, Jordan Harris, Justin Barron and Logan Mailloux are all players who should be wearing the Habs jersey consistently. So moving older pieces is a step in the right direction to letting the younger talent shine.
Now the goal is obvious, bring the Stanley Cup back home, to Montreal.
Will it be easy? Surely not. But if Hughes and Jeff Gorton maintain a clear and precise strategy when building the roster going forward, there is no doubt it can be a much smoother process.
By Adam Lieblein, Staff Writer
All Habs Hockey Magazine
Copyright © 2022 Rocket Sports
