Today saw numerous members of Montreal Canadiens and staff gather for the annual Captain’s Golf Tournament and with it came some very interesting quotes. The yearly gathering of current Canadiens and alumni is always a fantastic fundraising opportunity with this year raising proceeds for the
Canadiens Children’s Foundation and the Max Pacioretty Foundation (this year helping the Montreal General Hospital Foundation).
Captain Pacioretty has had himself a busy summer after a disappointing end to the 2016-2017 season. He has welcomed his third child to the world (Congrats and Well Wishes Pacioretty’s!) while adjusting to spending his entire offseason in Montreal. The effort appears to have had a good affect on not only his family but Montreal’s biggest off season acquisition, Jonathan Drouin. "He's been great. I talk to Jonathan and see him all day every day. We train together, we hang out together, we eat together, we skate together. From day one, I've really liked what I've seen from him. He's a tremendous talent, one of the best I've been on the ice with. Even more importantly than that, he's a great kid. He wants to get better and help this team” stated Pacioretty.
Definitely solid of the captain to speak so glowingly of Drouin, but if I may try to look at a different angle on this. I would think that not only is it positive that Pacioretty has been constantly training with and imparting wisdom to Drouin this offseason, but it’s also fantastic that a ultra talented, fiery local boy has been showing Pacioretty how big his level of desire, compete, and commitment to the Canadiens is. I hope Drouin is showing Pacioretty that his arrival is more than a business transaction in the career of a NHL’er. It’s a return of a element the Canadiens have lacked for many years. A elite local talent that eats, sleeps, breathes hockey.
This season means a lot to Jonathan Drouin and a lot to a passionate fanbase that has wanted a hometown hero to take the reigns in Montreal for a long, long time. I’m expecting big things from Drouin and I believe he does as well.
For his part, Drouin seems to echo the sentiments shared by Max Pacioretty. Drouin appears to have taken the attitude of employing a sponge-like, knowledge driven offseason shadowing the captain. "It's for sure been a big help, especially since he's the captain. We know Max has scored a lot of goals the last few years and it's been great to be able to skate with him, get some feedback, get some insight on how things work. It’s cool because even though I know the city and I'm from here, I don't know the other players, I don't really know how it works with the team and to be with Max all summer, it's really been a help. It's gone very well with him so far. Chemistry starts off the ice and him and I have seemed to hit it off really well this summer. That's half the battle, I'm just really excited to play with him. Hopefully, we can have the same type of chemistry on the ice.” Very encouraging words from Jonathan Drouin indeed. This kind of comment from Drouin isn't a typical NHL player response, its personal and shows his dedication to being a good pro.
Now, while some will look at this quotes and think they have to say things like this. While I definitely can agree to a certain extent, it’s the fact that these two players have used this summer to meet and train regularly, and feed off the knowledge they can offer each other that really impressed me. This is more than sound bites for the media, this summer has been a direct attempt to improve together for the Montreal Canadiens, and its more personal this year for both men.
The quotes that will fuel the fires of the Canadiens fanbase until training camp were that Coach Claude Julien was open to playing Drouin at center indicating that he would be willing to see if Drouin can handle the role. Julien states, "Drouin maybe deserves a chance to make a case for playing center, but training camp will help determine a lot of things. You have to let the players show their worth, but it's good to know we have options. He played some of his Junior at center but I want to see him. We're going to give them the chance, see how things work. We have some ideas, we just want to take the time to see them in action at camp.”
Definitely not an assurance of Drouin starting the season at center, but encouraging to see the staff wants to give him a test drive there. Drouin commented on the possibility of playing centre himself saying "I played center my last year of Junior, so I don't think I'll be nervous playing there if that's where I end up. There is room at center. Centers are always moving, so if they have speed and good vision, there are more options than on the wing.” Hearing the kinds of things Drouin has said since joining the Montreal Canadiens really ramp up my level of anticipation to seeing him don the bleu, blanc, et rouge this fall. He seems like a student of the game, an intellectual of hockey. That coupled with his skills and work ethic could be something special, in my opinion.
The last thing I want to touch on here is another fantastic quote from centre Phillip Danault.
Most discount the Canadiens centre ice situation heading into this year because of the lack of progression of Galchenuk, deterioration of Plekanec’s game, and using a player of Danault’s experience in a first line role. Now, Danault played essentially his first full NHL campaign and due to Montreal’s lack of quality centers was placed into a role that he most certainly wouldn't have been faulted in failing at.
First line on the Montreal Canadiens is not an easy position to handle, on the ice and off. Danault managed to put up 40 points, only 2 of which were on the PP, play in every game, and win 51.7% of his draws. That isn't exactly bad for a sophomore player. In fact, I would argue its a very good sign that the player would likely build on that output over the next few seasons.
The comment from Danault saying he will be ready and willing to show the hockey world again that he belongs in the top six with a hint of a chip on his shoulder should be exciting for fans of the Canadiens. I’m hoping Danault can walk the talk come October and I think the odds are he will. Is he going to be Mark Scheifele? Nope. Can he win draws and put up close to 60 points in the next couple seasons? Possibly. I think he hits 50 points next year fairly easily, with good health and a top six position.
The day appears to have delivered on all fronts. Raising funds for a great cause and giving fans hopes of Drouin becoming Monteal’s top line center this season. Barring any trades (which I feel is very likely) Montreal will hopefully be looking to employ two of Galchenyk, Drouin, and Danault in the top six center role. Things may not look so bleak anymore…. maybe.
OVERTIME
News broke earlier today that Montreal would be inviting 26 year old, left handed defenseman Eric Gelinas to training camp on a PTO. Gelinas has had hard time finding his role in the NHL bouncing from New Jersey and Colorado the last five seasons. The invite doesn’t really cause a lot of optimism in me because if you can't make it on the defences of the Devils and Avalanche then maybe the NHL isn’t in the cards anymore.
A positive look at Gelinas would be to point out his excellent size. At 6’04” and 215 lbs he definitely has NHL stature. His rookie season (13-14) with the Devils saw him register 7 goals and 22 assists in 60 games which certainly looked incredible at the time. In his following 128 games he has only managed 7 goals and 19 assists. Now, NJ and the Avs haven't exactly been powerhouse offensive teams but at this point his rookie season seems like more of an exception and not the rule as to what he can provide an NHL club.
Some have speculated this could be a very well calculated move to that would see GM Marc Bergevin pull off a deal involving a current Montreal defenseman and see if Gelinas can fill the departing players role. Perhaps it could be. Many hockey media types have mentioned that Bergevin has been working overtime to make deals, but no one can really provide any details except for speculating it will be Galchenyuk going the other way (which I truly hope doesn’t happen). I say lets see what Gelinas does at camp before dealing away, or losing, any more defensemen.
*** All quotes mentioned were pulled the Montreal Canadiens Twitter and official website ***
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