2014-15 Montreal Canadiens Preview

There is no question the 2014-15 Canadiens are a talented bunch. However, the club is still relatively young with a handful of its best players — P.K. Subban, Max Pacioretty, Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher, to name a few — entering this season at 25 years old or younger.

Speaking of pressure to perform, Subban, the club’s dangerous offensive-minded defenseman, enters this season after signing an eight-year, $72 million contract over the summer. The new deal gives the 25-year-old blueliner a bigger cap hit than every player in the NHL not named Alex Ovechkin or Evgeni Malkin.

In light of his lucrative contract, it was perhaps a wise move to not also saddle Subban with the captaincy following the departure of former captain Brian Gionta. Instead, the Habs opted to enter this season with four alternate captains, spreading the responsibility between Subban, Pacioretty and veterans Andrei Markov and Tomas Plekanec.

Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin didn’t fiddle with his roster too much this summer, with his biggest moving coming in the trade which sent Danny Briere to Colorado in exchange for fellow forward P.A. Parenteau. Bergevin also made a few modest free agent signings, luring veteran centerman Manny Malhotra and defenseman Tom Gilbert to Montreal.

There also expects to be a further influx of youth on the blue line, as Nathan Beaulieu and Jarred Tinordi aim to earn full-time roles after seeing limited action in 2013-14.

The club also welcomes the return of goaltender Carey Price, who went down with a knee injury in the conference finals and never returned. Price expects to be 100 percent at the start of the season, and he should play a key role in Montreal’s attempt to prove the club’s showing in 2013-14 was no fluke.

FORWARDS – Head coach Michel Therrien’s club has tons of speed up front, but his team wasn’t exactly prolific when it came to putting the puck in the net.

Montreal ranked 21st in the NHL last season by averaging just 2.55 goals per game. Fortunately, the Habs were able to ratchet up the scoring in the playoffs when they averaged 3.00 gpg.

Pacioretty is the driving force behind Montreal’s offense and the 25-year-old American is coming off a season in which he finished fourth in the NHL with a career-best 39 goals. He had 60 total points in 73 games and added 11 points (5 goals, 6 assists) over 17 playoff contests. Pacioretty gives Montreal a dangerous blend of size (6-foot-2, 219 pounds) and speed to utilize on its top line, creating matchup problems for many teams.

David Desharnais, who serves as Montreal’s No. 1 centerman, recorded 52 points (16G, 36A) last season, while top-line right winger Brendan Gallagher added 19 goals and 22 assists. However, the 22-year-old Gallagher can’t afford to take a step back this season or Therrien could use Parenteau to replace him on the top line.

Bergevin is betting on Parenteau to have a bounce-back season after knee injuries and a rumored rift with Avalanche rookie head coach Patrick Roy hampered his 2013-14 season. The 31-year-old had 18 goals and 43 points in 48 games for Colorado in the lockout-shortened campaign of 2013 but only managed 14 goals and 19 assists in 55 games last season.

If Gallagher can hold off a challenge from Parenteau the latter player will likely fall to the second line with centerman Tomas Plekanec and left winger Alex Galchenyuk. Plekanec, 31, recorded 20 goals and 23 assists last season, while Galchenyuk added 13 goals and 31 points. Montreal is hoping for a breakout season from the 20-year-old winger who was taken with the third overall pick of the 2012 draft.

Lars Eller expects to be Montreal’s centerman on the third line, leaving Malhotra to anchor the fourth unit. Eller had a disappointing regular season with just 26 points (12G, 14A) in 2013-14, but he finished second on Montreal in playoff scoring with 13 points on five goals and eight assists. Despite his up-and-down campaign, Bergevin opted to re-sign Eller for four years and $14 million during the offseason.

Rene Bourque and Brandon Prust are penciled in as the third-line wingers after recording just 16 and 13 points, respectively last season. That could leave Michael Bournival and Dale Weise flanking Malhotra on the fourth unit. The 34-year-old Malhotra played in 69 games for Carolina last season and posted seven goals and six assists.

DEFENSE – While Pacioretty stands alone as Montreal’s top forward, Subban arguably is even more valuable to the club’s offense despite playing from the back end.

Subban, the 2013 Norris Trophy winner, was second to Pacioretty in team scoring last season after registering 53 points (10G, 43A) in 82 games. However, nobody produced more in the postseason for Montreal than Subban, who led the club with 14 playoff points on five goals and nine assists. Subban’s heavy and accurate shot from the point is Montreal’s primary weapon on the power play and the howitzer proved to be a big reason the Habs were able to get past rival Boston in the second round of the playoffs.

Montreal signed Gilbert to a two-year deal this summer and his presence gives the Habs the needed addition of a right-handed shot on the blue line. Gilbert expects to pair with Alexei Emelin, who will move over to his more natural left side. The Gilbert signing also means Subban and Andrei Markov will play together on what expects to be a formidable top pairing.

Like Subban, Markov also earned a pay raise over the summer after inking a three-year, $17.25 million contract to stay in Montreal. The 35-year-old Russian is better in his own zone than Subban but still provides an offensive punch. Markov notched 43 points (7G, 36A) in 81 games last season and had one goal and nine helpers in the playoffs.

Barring injuries, Therrien should be able to roll the Subban-Markov pairing out for at least 25 minutes a night this season. However, with the club’s two top defenseman playing together it’s a pretty sizeable drop-off in talent to the next pairing of Emelin and Gilbert.

Gilbert, 31, is a solid two-way player who record 28 points (3G, 25A) in 73 games for the Florida Panthers. Emelin had three goals and 14 assists in 59 games with the Canadiens.

Youngsters Beaulieu and Tinordi expect to the battle for playing time on the last pairing with veteran Mike Weaver, who was acquired at last season’s trade deadline from Florida. Weaver skated in all 17 playoff games for the Habs and recorded one goal and three assists while notching a team-best plus-8 rating.

Beaulieu — the 17th overall pick of the 2011 draft — showed promise as a puck-moving defenseman in a seven-game run during last spring’s playoffs. At 6-foot-6, Tinordi could develop into a top-four blueliner thanks to his size and skating ability.

GOALTENDING – When Price was injured in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals and subsequently ruled out of the series, it dealt a huge blow to Montreal’s Stanley Cup dreams.

Considering the Habs lost to the New York Rangers 7-2 in the opener it seemed like the Canadiens were headed for a short series without Price’s services. Instead, rookie Dustin Tokarski did a superb job of keeping Montreal in the series even if New York went on to win the set in six games.

All in all, Price had a tremendous 2013-14 season as he helped Team Canada win gold at the Sochi Olympics while turning in perhaps his best NHL season. The 27-year-old went 34-20-5 last season and set personal bests in both goals against average (2.32) and save percentage (.927). Price was similarly impressive in the playoffs before getting hurt in the conference finals, registering a 2.36 GAA and .919 save percentage in 12 postseason tilts.

Price suffered a sprained knee after being slammed into by Rangers winger Chris Kreider, but Montreal’s No. 1 goaltender expects to be at 100 percent for the start of the season.

Tokarski was a surprise replacement for Price in the playoffs since it was Peter Budaj who was listed as No. 2 on the depth chart at the time of the injury. Budaj saw action in 24 regular season games in 2013-14 compared to only three appearances for the 25-year-old Tokarski.

Although being passed over for Tokarski did not seem to bode well for the 32- year-old netminder’s future in Montreal, Budaj is still with the Habs and is presumably still being given a chance to win the backup job over Tokarski.

WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE – Everybody knew the Canadiens’ speed could give some teams fits, but many critics believed the club’s lack of size and physicality would make them easy pickings in the playoffs. Montreal proved the naysayers wrong with its thrilling second-round win over the physical Bruins, and now it needs to show it wasn’t a fluke. A return to the playoffs should be well within Montreal’s reach in 2015, but it’s too early to tell if last season’s deep postseason run was a mirage or simply the sign of a team on the rise. Whether it winds up being good news or bad, the Habs should find out more about where they really stand in 2014-15.

Categorized in: NHL