1) It was fun listening to Michel Therrien on 'Melnick in the Afternoon' yesterday. Therrien called in from his first annual charity golf event, hosted at Le Mirage, and he touched on various subjects, from Subban's season to Lars Eller's recovery, from Carey Price's new goaltending coach Stephane Waite to Marc Bergevin's all-important acquisitions, George Parros and Daniel Briere. You can hear the interview
here.
2) Great to hear Lars Eller say he was fully recovered just three weeks after the devastation caused by Eric Gryba's hit in game one of the Habs-Sens series. Last year, Eller's training really took him to the next level, but he's admitted that his time spent with a sports psychologist was instrumental in his most recent development.
Can't help but think his mental rehabilitation from the injury he sustained took considerable work, and we're all waiting to see if he'll play as fearlessly as Max Pacioretty did after what he went through post-Chara obliteration.
3) You get the sense that the George Parros experiment is going to go much better than the Georges Laraque experiment. For one, it's expected Parros will actually do his job, but most importantly, to hear the coach talk about giving him an actual role is encouraging.
Is it enough, though?
The Canadiens have some toughness at the bottom end of their lineup, but they have almost none of it in their top six, which is still a distinguishing element between them and Boston, or Philly, or even Toronto.
4) Which brings me to my next point. Max Pacioretty. No one expects him to play like Milan Lucic, David Clarkson or Scott Hartnell, but Pacioretty is a much better player when he asserts himself physically. Seems to me, relenting on that side of the game has hindered his consistency. Relying on his shot too much has hurt him too.
If a player were to rely on his shot to be successful, Pacioretty could do it. His wrist shot is so heavy that if it doesn't go in, it usually generates rebound opportunities. But with David Desharnais or Daniel Briere chasing down the rebounds, he's much better suited to dish and get to the net if he wants to produce as consistently as he should.
Pacioretty may not have the grittiness those other players have, but he certainly has the skill and the power to be a dominant force.
5) Every good team has depth down the middle. The Canadiens may not have the most prolific players at centre, but they have a lot of depth at the position.
It's a major asset to have five centres that can fill in on the top two lines. Plekanec, Desharnais, Eller, Briere and Galchenyuk can all be slotted into those roles depending on the health of the lineup. The latter three can all play the wing and still be effective. That's a lot of versatility up front.
Plekanec and Eller can fill defensive positions just as well. That's not to be understated when Ryan White or Brandon Prust, or even Louis Leblanc are the other options. It's an 82-game season, and you're going to need all the reserves you have to get through it.
6) Speaking of depth at centre, the Canadiens still have roughly $3.3 M in cap space. They'd be wise to fish around and possibly spend a million on a player that can help them at the bottom end of their lineup.
One compelling option at the position: Jeff Halpern. Known commodity. Won't cost more than a million, and he wins faceoffs. But you know all of this already...
7) Assuming Bergevin wants a little wiggle room on the cap, assuming they don't add a centreman of the Jeff Halpern variety, are there any defensemen on the free agent market you'd take a flyer on?
Here's a sampling of what's available:
Ron Hainsey
Ryan Whitney
Tom Gilbert
Filip Kuba
Wade Redden
Ryan O'Byrne
Doug Murray
Mark Eaton
Mark Fistric
8) I'm not advocating the Canadiens sign him because I can't figure out how they'd justify giving him a top six role, but I'm a little surprised Brad Boyes is still on the market.
I don't think he's requesting some kind of crazy deal. Everyone knows his 35 points in 48 games last year was more a product of playing with Matt Moulson and John Tavares, but he's the highest scoring player still on the market.
Michael Ryder got two years at $3.5 M from Jersey. Last year, Boyes was on a one-year contract worth one million. Surely, he can get a two-year contract from someone.
If there's one thing Boyes has proven throughout his career, it's that he performs well when he's surrounded by talent. There has to be a team out there looking for relatively cheap scoring. And there has to be a few teams that have incomplete lines, but good players to support a player like Boyes.
9) What are the St. Louis Blues going to do with their goaltending situation? Both Elliott and Halak are set to become unrestricted free agents, and Jake Allen is waiting in the wings.
Last season wasn't a strong one for Halak, then again, last time this guy was playing for a contract...
10) I've heard a lot about the Canadiens moving in the right direction. A lot of people are of that opinion, and I'm one of them. That said, I don't see many predicting that they can secure a playoff position by nailing down one of the top three spots in their new division.
What say you?
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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