It's hard to swallow the fact the Canadiens were a shot away from continuing to entertain us through round two of this year's incredible playoffs. It's especially tough when you consider that the Capitals are currently dying by Tampa's defensive sword, as the Lightning are successfully incorporating a game plan that the Canadiens overtook the East's top seed with last spring.
That's Hockey.
On the bright side of things, it was incredibly encouraging to stand face-to-face with Max Pacioretty last week as he beamed about his medical clearance, and his own vested interest in seeing the Canadiens come out on the right side of that one shot.
Pacioretty would've been playing by now, and as he assured us, he'll return every bit as good if not better. There's reason to believe him. After all, he acquitted himself quite nicely after stating he belonged in Montreal's top six.
Hard to argue he wouldn't have made the difference against Boston, given his four goals, two assists and +2 rating in 3.5 games against the Bruins this year, but he wouldn't concede as much last week.
More importantly, he'll be making the difference for a full season in Montreal's top six once the fall arrives, and his return certainly makes Pierre Gauthier's mandate clearer moving forward.
Once Gauthier shuffles his deck on the blue line, he'll have the most important decisions to take in an area he couldn't play with at the trade deadline because of all the injuries suffered on the back end this season.
To start with, the money being paid to Benoit Pouliot is certainly better spent on Pacioretty. The team has several restricted free agents to deal with, and will have to consider cutting ties with a few of them, be it through trade or by other means.
I'd have never thought the Canadiens would entertain the thought of bringing Andrei Kostitsyn back for next season, and have to admit his future with the team still seems to be questionable.
David Desharnais has emerged as a legitimate offensive threat, one that seems to be more versatile than the young promising Eller, if only for the fact that despite his size he can produce from the wing position. And, Desharnais could potentially produce in a top six capacity, especially if the team has injuries to deal with up front.
Pyatt and White both seem to be locks to make the team, considering neither will cost very much, both are restricted, and both serve a purpose moving forward.
If we assume Pacioretty, Desharnais, Pyatt and White will unquestionably return to Montreal, that leaves very little availability for the other players under contract until July 1 to come back.
Gomez
Gionta
Pacioretty
Plekanec
Cammalleri
Desharnais
Eller
Pyatt
White
Moen
Let's face it: the Canadiens are still going to be built on defense, but they need more money to continue to make that the pinnacle of their franchise.
The plan moving forward will most likely involve Andrei Markov, Josh Gorges and Hal Gill. If it's going to involve one of Roman Hamrlik or James Wisniewski, the Canadiens are going to have some maneuvering to do up front.
Take Andrei Kostitsyn's 3.25 mil and Benoit Pouliot's 1.3 mil, and the Canadiens will have enough to bring back a solid blue line and truly address the needs up front.
They need to get bigger and stronger.
Here's a quick look at the the UFA list, specifically at the players they could be targeting in order to fill that size/strength quota:
-Brooks Laich
-Michal Handzus
-Chris Clark
-Tomas Fleischmann
-Andrew Brunette
-Ethan Moreau
-Chad Larose
-Joel Ward
-Pascal Dupuis
-John Madden
-Curtis Glencross
-Maxime Talbot
-Ville Leino
-Arron Asham
-Sean Bergenheim
-Drew Miller
-Jamal Mayers
-Cam Janssen
Naturally, not all of these players will be available come July 1. And naturally, not all of them will necessarily appeal to the Canadiens, nor do they necessarily, adequately fill the missing quotient from Montreal's offense. But this is to give you all an idea of what's available.
Chances are, if the Canadiens are going to fix things up front, they'll have to be fairly active on the trade market.
Legitimately, if the Canadiens are to bank on their blue line, it just doesn't make sense to bring Darche and Halpern back. They will both go the way of Metropolit and Moore before them, and if the Canadiens are to part ways with both, they better bring in bigger, stronger players.
As for Gomez--Arpon Basu nailed his situation down
with this piece.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»