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1) As Pat Hickey persistently questioned Marc Bergevin on the size of his team at Monday's post-mortem, Bergevin stuck to his guns on the main requirement being balance.
Balance of speed, size, physicality and character. Obviously, the Canadiens have speed and character, and they can be a physical group too, but they need some bigger bodies to withstand the physical toll of a longer season and the playoffs.
Is there a more balanced team than the Chicago Blackhawks, where Bergevin came to the Canadiens from?
Is there any question he has that model more in mind in reshaping the Canadiens than he does that of the Boston Bruins?
2) Watching the Hawks, their success is pinned to Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook. The pair features incredible speed coupled with brash physicality, and the puck-moving ability of both players is otherworldly.
Obviously, Keith has been paired with Niklas Hjalmarsson at times, who has a very similar game to Alexei Emelin.
The Habs have Subban, but Andrei Markov doesn't offer what Seabrook provides for Keith.
Markov can be the Johnny Oduya of the Habs, but there's a clear organizational need to fill next to Subban to push the Canadiens to the next level. Chances are, the team will fill this position through the draft, as players like Seabrook are rarely available through free agency or trade.
Jarred Tinordi is going to add exceptional depth. And in a year from now when Markov's contract expires, Nathan Beaulieu will be ready to step in and be a secondary offensive threat from the backend while providing steadier play in his own end than he's currently capable of.
Josh Gorges is a stable force, and the hope is that he can show Greg Pateryn the way to be a reliable stay at home defenseman at the NHL level. Beyond that, depth can always be added through free agency--and this time, it ought to be a big body.
Obviously, Francis Bouillon is signed through next season, but as Bergevin and many other hockey minds often reiterate, you can never have enough depth on the blue line.
3) Elite talent up front.
Jonathan Toews is obviously on another level, but players like Marian Hossa, Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp give the Hawks several options to detract defensive attention from Toews.
With Brandan Saad and Michal Handzus, there's no overtly physical presence in Chicago's top six. Just a whole lot of speed and scoring.
On the bottom two lines, size and physicality enter into the equation:
Bryan Bickell and Dave Bolland are not fun to play against. Neither is Dan Carcillo. But the other three players in Chicago's bottom six are hardly physical specimens in Michael Frolik, Andrew Shaw and Marcus Krueger.
Chicago's formula is balanced--but speed and character are the overriding factors.
4) I'm not suggesting Bergevin's course is the best one for the Canadiens. Don't forget, he has to build based on what he was given, not just based on what he wants.
We'll see if Chicago gets past Detroit--who are similarly built. If they do, it'll be interesting to see how they fare against San Jose or Los Angeles--two teams primarily built on size and physicality.
5) If you're hoping for some dramatic moves at centre from Bergevin in this offseason, you might be wildly disappointed.
Tomas Plekanec has three years remaining on his contract. Now doesn't seem like the ideal time to trade him. There's no question he nets great value in an exchange (see Jason Pominville to the Wild), but he's also too big a part of the team's hope to reach the playoffs next season to just trade off now. There's no one on the unrestricted free agency front you'd replace him with, and if you trade him, you're certainly not targeting or obtaining a second line centre who can play as well in his own end as he does in the offensive end.
6) David Desharnais clearly didn't justify Bergevin's decision to extend him for four seasons. His caphit isn't so dramatic that you could never trade him, but the Canadiens certainly won't be able to unload him in year one, and I don't think they want to either.
The hope is that Desharnais recaptures his never-quit attitude. As a player that thrived tremendously on proving people wrong, he has a golden opportunity to do exactly that next season.
If he can recapture the chemistry with Max Pacioretty that vaulted both players up the Canadiens lineup, that'll go a long way towards ensuring some success for the team next season.
It wouldn't change the fact that the Canadiens need to find more size and physicality to surround these players with, but it would certainly put the kibosh on all those statements of Desharnais being signed to an untradeable contract.
7) People want to see Alex Galchenyuk at centre, and I don't blame them. Therrien and Bergevin have acknowledged that Galchenyuk will certainly play at the position he was drafted for in a matter of time.
But it's a slower process than people care to admit or believe. Galchenyuk will get many more looks at centre next season. Injuries, slumps, lineup adjustments are imminent. He'll also play plenty on the wing as he continues to learn at the position he was drafted for.
8) I'd bet on two things after next season:
1) Andrei Markov will no longer be a part of the Montreal Canadiens.
2) Tomas Plekanec will no longer be a part of the Montreal Canadiens.
9) We still need to see significant progress from Lars Eller, but he looks prepared to be a guy that can contribute up to 60 points. He needs to refine his penalty killing, his ability to shadow a primary player on the other team and his decision making. But his development has been a pleasure to watch, and after another season, it seems evident Eller will have the goods to fill Plekanec's shoes. He also possesses a degree of grit that Plekanec doesn't.
After another season, Alex Galchenyuk may very well be ready to be a top flight centre in this league. He's certainly headed down that path.
And who knows what the Canadiens may get their hands on through the draft to make that picture that much stronger.
10) Danny Kristo. Not a huge player by any means, but he has the edge and the compete level to be a David Bolland type of contributor. His NHL development is likely to begin at some point next season.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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