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Habs Report Cards: Andrei Markov & Dale Weise Wants to Return to Montreal |
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Habs Report Cards - Andrei Markov
Grade: B-
It was a roller coaster of a season for veteran Canadiens defenceman Andrei Markov. He started off the season a tear with 10 points through the first 10 games of the year, highlighted by his 5 point night (1G, 4A) against the Buffalo Sabres on October 23rd. Paired with P.K. Subban they were a formidable top pairing. However, there was early concern of overplaying Markov due to his running out of gas during the 2015 playoffs. Any night that Markov was playing over 23 minutes led to questions of how his body would respond the next night. At first he was up for the challenge with 18 points through the first 25 games. However, as the team faltered without Carey Price from the end of November on, as did Markov who could not sustain his high level of play from earlier in the season.
Unfortunately, it became obvious that Markov’s body could not keep up with the mind. Unnecessary risks were taken at inopportune times resulting in giveaways and goals against. For parts of December and January, Markov was relegated to the 3rd pairing as Nathan Beaulieu, his heir apparent spent time with Subban. Markov was especially exposed for his errors especially in the new 3 on 3 overtime format where opponents are waiting to take advantage of sloppy play to create odd man rushes. Head coach Michel Therrien gave an impassioned speech to the media in January after one such giveaway and overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues, refusing to blame Markov for his mistake.
As injuries to Tom Gilbert, Jeff Petry, Beaulieu and Subban piled up, Therrien had little choice but to overplay Markov. For his part though, Markov finished the season strong and showed that he still has something left in the tank. From February through the end of the season, Markov had 20 points in 29 games. He worked with various defence partners, from Subban to Alexei Emelin and Mark Barberio to Greg Pateryn. Markov held the fort and led the young defence crew through a difficult period.
Where does this lead Markov heading into the 2016-2017 season? He will be turning 38 next December and once again will face questions about his speed and consistency. Can he stay on the top pairing with Subban? Will he need an occasional game off? It is still impressive that he collected 50 points and played all 82 games at 37 years old and for this he gets a B- on his report card. Markov is never going to refuse ice time and it is up to the coaches to manage his minutes. There is no question that there is still good hockey left in Markov but that his mistakes get amplified because when he makes them they seem to be at the worst time. As well, fans are not used to seeing errors from their longtime general. It is somewhat disheartening to see if play out. Perhaps a positive from the Canadiens missing the playoffs is that it gives Markov a longer off-season to let the body rest, recuperate and then train hard.
In other news, Dale Weise in a radio interview on TSN690 yesterday afternoon expressed his interest to return to the Canadiens when he becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1st. It is easy to see why Weise would want to return. He had his greatest success in Montreal, grew up a Habs fan, still has close friends on the team and was a favorite of Therrien who used him up and down the line up. Despite my opposition of him being used too often on the 1st/2nd lines, I do like Weise. Especially the Weise that shows up in the playoffs. The difficulty of cracking the Blackhawks lineup has probably lowered the value of Weise, making him an attractive addition for teams. However, the Canadiens have an overflow of 3rd and 4th line players. They would have to clear some bodies in order to make room for Weise and at that I would not want to pay more than $1.5-1.75 million a year for only 2 seasons. Would you take him back?
Cheers & follow along!
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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