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Habs Report Cards: David Desharnais |
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Habs Report Cards - David Desharnais
Grade: Third Line Center B+, 1st line Center D
David Desharnais might be small in stature but he sparks one of the biggest debates about the Montreal Canadiens roster. People love to harp on the negatives:
He is too small
He is not a 1st line center
He is the coach’s pet
He is taking away from the development of other players
He makes too much money
He doesn’t shoot often enough
However despite his critics, Desharnais has carved out a respectable NHL career through hard work and determination. For the better part of his career, Desharnais has played with Max Pacioretty on his left wing and the duo have often been two thirds of the Canadiens top line. It is not Desharnais’ fault though that the Canadiens have lacked depth at center for years. He and Pacioretty developed chemistry together in the AHL with the Hamilton Bulldogs and their success grew in the NHL. However, as the years have passed, Pacioretty has continued to develop and improve whereas Desharnais has plateaued. It has taken the coaching staff a little too long to recognize that.
After the 2014-2015 season, it became obvious that in order for the Canadiens to succeed Desharnais could not be the Canadiens top center. Tomas Plekanec had become the new #1 center playing the necessary minutes between Pacioretty and Brendan Gallagher. Heading into the 2015-2016, the Canadiens finally decided that it was time to promote Alex Galchenyuk and make him a top six center, thus making Desharnais the team’s third line center. By putting Desharnais on the third line, Therrien was in actual fact giving Desharnais the greatest opportunity to succeed by no longer going up against the other team’s top lines and best defenders.
Playing alongside Tomas Fleischmann and Dale Weise to start the season, Desharnais had 17 points in the first 22 games of the season. Desharnais proved that he could succeed without Pacioretty and could thrive in the right situation. His contributions along with his linemates, took the pressure of off the Canadiens top six and the team was able to roll all four lines with great success. However, when Gallagher broke his fingers and the Canadiens offence went dry, Therrien’s blender went into overdrive and the coach decided that Desharnais needed to be reunited with Pacioretty. Unfortunately their past chemistry could not be reignited no matter how hard Therrien tried to make it work. Desharnais could not not handle the extra minutes and playing against tougher competition. Through the next 35 games playing mostly with Pacioretty, Desharnais recorded only 9 points.
Things went from bad to worse when Desharnais injured his knee and was forced to miss 17 games towards the end of the season. On the brighter side, the injury finally allowed Galchenyuk the opportunity to play and become the Canadiens #1 center although no one ever wants to injuries happen… When Desharnais returned to the lineup for the last 8 games of the season, it was back to his rightful spot on the third line. Desharnais found a little chemistry playing with Phillip Danault and Sven Andrighetto, perhaps a preview as to next year’s third line for the Canadiens.
Desharnais has the coaching staff’s trust and sometimes that is a detriment not just to the team but to the player himself. That blind trust has hurt Desharnais’ performance on the ice and hurts his perception off the ice as well. He will be in the last year of his contract in 2016-2017, earning a cool $3.5 million usd which will make him difficult to trade. Desharnais is a useful player but if you look at the remaining teams in the NHL playoffs, he would have a hard time cracking their lineup. At some point in the next season, Michael McCarron will likely become the Canadiens #3 center. Perhaps a move to the wing will eventually be in Desharnais and the team’s best interest moving forward.
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Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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