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Habs Preseason Wrap; Release Bouillon, Trade Budaj |
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I'm not going to run through the entire list of players, but here's a list of things that stood out to me in preseason:
1. Ahead of training camp, I had no doubt that Galchenyuk was going to shine in his audition at centre, though that was unlikely to force Marc Bergevin into any kind of move. The luxury of depth up the middle isn't something you squander ahead of game one of an 82-game marathon. After seeing everything Galchenyuk's done in preseason, here's my evaluation:
Galchenyuk has become the Canadiens best forward. There's no question--at the speed he's playing at--that his best opportunity to help this team will be up the middle. And there is no question that he's going to find himself playing centre as soon as a slump hits up front or someone goes down with an injury. And that will mark the beginning of the end of his time as a winger. This kid will be a permanent centre on this team, and it will happen this season.
That said, while he's on the wing, his production is going to soar. He's two or three levels above where we last saw him in a significant contest, and that is incredible news for the Canadiens.
2. I hyped Jiri Sekac a lot before training camp, and I believe firmly in what I originally saw. He's only deepened that belief in preseason action.
This kid is big, he's strong, he's a committed puck-pursuer, he's excellent along the boards, he's quick and fast, he's defensively sound, and he's extremely versatile. This guy can play a shutdown role on the third line, and he can play a scoring role on the first line. He can play left wing, he can play right wing.
I can't put my finger on a projection for him, if only because I'm not sure how he'll be used. What I am sure of, is that he's going to continue to climb up the depth chart and force the coaching staff into using him more and more.
3. I have to wonder what the plan is for the Canadiens and Rene Bourque. Bourque can be the most overpaid player on the team if he resembles the guy who casually shows up for a paycheck and nothing more during the regular season. But he can be considered great value if he's anything like the guy who ferociously marched through the postseason.
It's only preseason, but Bourque deserves credit for looking more like the postseason guy so far. It's fairly evident he's come into camp in excellent shape.
This was a team that struggled at 5-on-5 last year, until Thomas Vanek joined at the trade deadline. Bourque, Eller and Sekac can do a lot to ensure they don't go down that path again.
4. Nathan Beaulieu has an incredible opportunity to finally affirm his NHL presence. He has got to shine on the powerplay for that to happen. Beaulieu's ascendance highlights the biggest change on the Canadiens this season; more precise, better puck movement out of the zone.
Tom Gilbert won't amaze you with his physicality, he will impress you with his first pass. Beaulieu can skate it out as well as he can pass it. Ditto for Subban. Emelin doesn't have the soundest judgment with the puck, but he'll certainly have an easier time moving it from the left side of the ice. Markov's bread and butter is his first pass. And Mike Weaver's a pretty heady player, with this part of his game being underrated, even if it's not quite on par with the other guys mentioned here.
5. Jarred Tinordi needs to find his best game, and it's not as far off as some would have you believe. Yes, he's had a nervy camp. Yes, he's fumbled. Yes, he's hung his head in shame too many times for the happy cameras he can't avoid. But he also represents something the Canadiens desperately need in their defensive arsenal. At his best, he's a physical beast. At his best, he skates well and makes good decisions with the puck. At his best, he's a tower of pain in front of Carey Price. At his best, he blocks a lot of rubber. At his best he makes you think twice about going in the corner with him. The Habs don't currently have a defenseman who you can describe as such. And sure as sure can be, Francis Bouillon at his best doesn't even remotely resemble what Tinordi can give you.
So the Habs have another real tough choice on their hands, but here's how I see it. If the plan is to send Tinordi back down, so he can play top pairing minutes in Hamilton and build up his confidence to be the best version of himself when he returns to Montreal, then so be it. If that plan forces the Canadiens to sign Bouillon, so be it.
But when the time is ripe--if the Habs don't believe it's now--Marc Bergevin will have the wherewithal to promote Tinordi and cut Bouillon. And you know why I believe that? Because he's made similar decisions with other players over the previous two seasons.
Right now, the top six is set. Bouillon, Tinordi-- neither of them has a playing position in Montreal, right now. I know there's a large faction of fans that believe Michel Therrien loves Bouillon so much, that he'll work him into the top six before long, but Therrien loves winning more than he loves Bouillon (bracing myself for the debate this will inspire).
I have a hard time believing that the Canadiens believe Bouillon will make less mistakes out there than Tinordi will. And I'd like to think it's important to have a seventh defenseman who can challenge the other players in the lineup to be at the height of their abilities. My evaluation is that Tinordi is much more capable of battling Emelin or Weaver for ice-time than Bouillon is, even with the lumps in his game at present. I'd imagine being told he's staying in Montreal would take a lot of the lumps out of Tinordi's game.
We won't have to wait much longer to see where this is going, but to think cap savings on the Peter Budaj trade would be used to blow on Bouillon, who doesn't figure to be a part of a winning team moving forward, seems narrow-minded.
And just as I was writing this, the Habs have released Francis Bouillon.
6. Depth. The Canadiens have more of it this year than any other year since 1993. Here's a list of forwards who won't be in the opening night roster, barring trade or injury: Travis Moen, Michael Bournival, Christian Thomas, Eric Tangradi, Jacob De La Rose, Sven Andrighetto, Jarred Tinordi, Greg Pateryn, Davis Drewiske and Darren Dietz, All of these players are capable of playing in the NHL. That's a large comfort to Therrien.
7. I think P.A. Parenteau can complete the line with Pacioretty and Desharnais, but I'm sure he's acutely aware of the competition for his spot on it. He looked better and better as training camp and preseason progressed, but if he wants to stick on that line, he's going to have to produce on a nightly basis. Great for the Canadiens if he can do it. If he doesn't, and someone beats him to that spot, he's untested on all the team's other lines.
Personally, I'd be curious to see what he'd look like with Eller and Bourque. Without getting into the semantics on line labels, this might offer the Canadiens a better balance up front.
8. Which brings me to what's sure to be an unpopular opinion. Brendan Gallagher is a better linemate for Pacioretty and Desharnais than he is for Galchenyuk and Plekanec. Gallagher's determination and puck pursuit are what the top line needs, and hand skills and puck movement are lacking next to Galchenyuk and Plekanec.
I believe the lines start like this for the season:
Pacioretty-Desharnais-Parenteau
Galchenyuk-Plekanec-Gallagher
Bourque-Eller-Sekac
Prust-Malholtra-Weise
Bournival
This looks like 1-2-3-4 to me.
but I'd be so curious to see them like this:
Pacioretty-Desharnais-Gallagher
Galchenyuk-Plekanec-Sekac
Bourque-Eller-Parenteau
Prust-Malholtra-Weise
Bournival
This looks like 1-2-2-4 to me.
9. Dustin Tokarski is getting the chance he earned last year. I'm sure Budaj actually did ask for a trade after last year's playoffs, but I don't believe that influenced the decision Bergevin and Therrien were coming to.
Tokarski will shine as a back up in Montreal, before proving his worth as a starter and inevitably netting the Canadiens a return on their investment.
For now, it's incontestable that he's a better starting option than Budaj would've been should Price suffer an injury or an illness at some point this season.
10. The Canadiens are going to have to trade Travis Moen, or send Michael Bournival down to Hamilton before the start of the season. Which do you believe Bergevin and Therrien would be more inclined to do?
I'm having a hard time answering this question myself. I know what the long-term answer should be--and that's trade Moen. But in the short-term, I can't help but feel they believe he's worth more to them as depth than what he would be worth in a trade.
Let's face it, that fourth line is looking mighty strong, and they're going to have their bumps and bruises throughout the year. An injury puts Moen on it, and brings Bournival back into the fold.
Maybe I've answered my own question...
BUT I GOT IT WRONG. Renaud Lavoie just reported that Michael Bournival is staying up with the Canadiens.
I neglected that with Budaj now gone, the habs can carry 14 forwards, seven defensemen and two goalies, giving them 23 players.
That leaves De La Rose as the final cut, I'd imagine, to be made as soon as it's confirmed that Lars Eller is good to go for Wednesday.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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