The Montreal Canadiens continue to be a great story in the NHL. They are in the playoff hunt in the Eastern Conference. Whether the goal was to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs or not, the Canadiens have put themselves in a great position after a poor start to the season without Patrik Laine in the lineup, whom they acquired in the offseason.
The goal had been from the start of the season, whether they wanted to admit it or not, was to play meaningful games come the end of the season. Executive Vice President Jeff Gorton and GM Kent Hughes were still talking about a rebuild and see what they have with head coach Martin St. Louis. They wanted to temper expectations heading into the season. But both knew in the back of their minds that this team had to play meaningful hockey in March and April.
Again, things did not start off well, but the acquisition of Alexandre Carrier from the Nashville Predators has really propelled the Canadiens. Carrier has allowed everyone to fit properly on defense. Obviously, the emergence of Lane Hutson has been phenomenal. Hutson could win the Calder Trophy for Rookie of the Year.
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Players like Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki have stepped up, especially after the Four Nations Faceoff. Hughes decided to stand pat at the trade deadline, holding onto players like Joel Armia, David Savard, Christian Dvorak, and Jake Evans. He extended Evans, giving him a four-year deal. So Hughes will be active in the off-season, and finding that number two center he desperately needs as the Kirby Dach era might be over.
As Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet explained on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio Morning Skate with Scott Laughlin and Gord Stellick, the Carrier trade sparked the Canadiens as he settled things down on the backend. Not to mention, Jakub Dobes played amazingly well in spot starts behind Sam Monetembeault.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Scott Laughlin: “If you see Kent Hughes today, he might be walking around and he might be walking on the clouds right now. Well, he’s feeling pretty good, no doubt. I mean, he wakes up this morning (Wednesday morning) too, and they’re back into a playoff position here Friedge with 15 games left to play. There were point up on the Rangers, and they’ve got a pair of games in hand on New York as well. I mean, how surprised are you? Most importantly, how surprised is he?
If you’ve had any sense of that as to what Montreal’s accomplished this season, because we, we thought they’d be better. That they progress. I’m not sure alot of people felt like, well, hey, start printing playoff tickets. But Montreal’s put themselves into a good spot so far.”
Friedman: “Well, the thing too is, do you remember what they looked like a month into season? They looked terrible at the beginning of the year. Well you know what? I think a couple of things. Number, a couple of things happened. Number one, it’s probably one of the best trades of the year is (Alexandre) Carrier because it gave them some experience on the blue line, and it helped everybody fit better. Like that, Carrier deal is one of the best trades of the year, and so that’s one thing.
The other thing, too, is unfortunately, this year, (Cayden) Primeau struggled, and they lost faith in him. And they finally brought up (Jakub) Dobes, and he gave them good spot starts. Like they were wearing out (Sam) Montembeault. And he recovered, and he got more rest, and it got better for him and it got better for them.
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That’s what I think. I think between the Carrier deal and the (Patrik) Laine one, where he’s gave them some life on the power play. But to me, Carrier and Dobes really changed things. And I’ll say this too, (Cole) Caufield) and (Nick) Suzuki were right on the cut line of the Four Nations. They didn’t make it. They could have sulked and pouted, but they’ve channeled it the right way.
Like those guys are going to be Olympians next year, I think. And a lot of it’s because the way they’ve handled their disappointment at not making the Four Nations roster.
These young Canadiens are playing with no fear. Having a player like Carrier has really helped them settle in. It was an underrated move at the time for Montreal. However, it is proving to have major dividends as the players are having fun, competing for a playoff spot, and playing meaningful games.
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