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Reinforcements on the Road |
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At the end of the game last night, there was legitimate concern that Philip Danault might miss some time after taking a puck to the face but Claude Julien confirmed that in the end, it was only a mouth injury. A cut and some teeth damage but no fracture and no concussion meaning that the Habs' number 1 centre traveled with the team to Boston and is expected to play. You can bet good money that Julien is relieved right now. Whether or not you think that Danault deserves to be a first line centre or that he would be one on another team, the bottom line is he is one for the Montreal Canadiens and has become a pivotal part of this team. Not only does he centre the team's most stable line but he's used on the penalty kill and on the power play this season. There's no arguing with his value to Julien's team, he's second in face-off percentage and in points and fourth amongst regulars for shooting percentage. After this season, he'll only have one year left on his contract and it wouldn't be surprising to see Marc Bergevin try to extend him as soon as possible.
Danault wasn't the only welcome addition to the plane's passengers list, Paul Byron also made the trip and he says that he's excited to play and wants to play. The speedy winger only played in 19 contest this season and hasn't been seen in the line-up since he went down to injury on November 15th. In those 19 games, he's only managed to gather 4 points and is on pace for his worst season points wise. Hopefully, the rehab time will have done him some good and we'll see last year's Byron instead of this year's if Julien does insert him in the line-up. It's hard to imagine and that he'll manage to make the top 9 as things stands and one can wonder how useful Byron can be on a 4th line. Currently, Cousins-Thompson-Evans are doing honest work even though the wingers only had 7 or so minutes of ice-time last night. Perhaps, it would be a good idea to use Byron and try to showcase him for a trade...Much like when the Canadiens traded Andrew Shaw, injuries are a concern here and it might be time to cut ties with Byron. It's a shame really because he's well liked amongst his teammates but hockey is first and foremost a business. Question is though, with 3 more seasons at 3.4 M per, will anyone be willing to take a chance on Byron? Considering how he was performing before the injury and how often he is injured, it's doubtful.
While both Danault and Byron joined the Habs on the road, Shea Weber stayed behind and there are more and more rumours going around about his health. This morning, Bob McKenzie tweeted this:
Is anyone surprised that information is on lockdown with the Habs? Please, when they said he'd be out for at least one week, everyone and their mother knew it would be more than that. Rumours sites and the Journal de Québec are now suggesting that Weber could miss the reminder of the season. If this is the case, there should be no question about what the Canadiens should do at the deadline... the almost impossible dream of qualifying for the Spring dance becomes downright impossible with the captain.
Speaking of the trade deadline, according to multiple sources, the Penguins came calling to see if Max Domi might have been available for a trade and were told that no he is not. Now, many people are jumping to the conclusion that Bergevin is not even willing to listen to offers for number 13 but I'm not sure how they got there. Short of having heard the conversation, how can one know what was said? Perhaps the Pens' GM told Bergevin, would you consider trading Domi for x, y and z and then Bergevin said he wasn't available who knows. That being said though, to me, Domi is a player you build around not a player you trade. Sure he has had a very underwhelming season but he's only 24 and there's no denying that the injuries affected the Canadiens' top 9 and aside from the first line, there wasn't much stability. What this season means to me is that Domi is now a candidate for a bridge deal rather than for a long term one. Had Bergevin extended him last summer, Domi would surely have gotten a big number for a lot of years but after this season? Bergevin is holding all the cards and Domi is sure to want to bet on himself and play through a bridge deal to show that last season was not a fluke.
Tomorrow's game is scheduled to start at 19:30 in Boston and as per usual when those two teams meet, it should be worth watching!
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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