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EDIT TINORDI TRADED! Habs Fall to the 'Hawks 2-1, Jacob De La Rose CalledUp |
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************** EDIT *************************
On Friday afternoon the Canadiens essentially traded defenceman Jarred Tinordi to the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for John Scott:
To call this move by Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin simply bizarre would be kind and the understatement of the year. Behind every Bergevin move in the last 3 years, I could see some sort of logic behind it, whether or not I agreed with the move. Prust for Kassian & a 5th round pick? Ok, Habs saved salary cap space and took a good risk. Vanek for a 2nd round pick? Great, a real push for the playoffs. Erik Cole for Michael Ryder? Sure, got rid of Cole's contract. But this trade makes so little sense. Scott and Bartley have already been assigned to St. John's, they were not acquired to help the Habs. Was Tinordi not worth a 3rd or 4th round pick? Did Bergevin hold on to him for too long and his value only declined? I can't even see this as being a prelude to a bigger deal. Was the real value in getting Bartley who has 112 NHL games under his belt? There are too many questions and no answers right now... Even more baffling is that the deal apparently took 3 weeks to complete:
Do you think Bergevin has another deal in place? Vote here:
All the best though to Jarred Tinordi and good luck in Arizona! I sincerely hope he is able to rediscover his confidence and game.
*** Back to last night's action and news from practice: ***
The Montreal Canadiens lost 2-1 to the defending Stanley Cup Champions Chicago Blackhawks Thursday night at the Bell Centre. This was one of Montreal’s better efforts as of late as they poured 40 shots on Montreal native Corey Crawford but were only able to find the back of the net once. Unfortunately, simply trying hard was not good enough to steal a point. The Canadiens have a real problem scoring goals and the initial boost from Brendan Gallagher’s return to the lineup has worn off. Normally a night of playing well and hard is enough to somewhat satisfy the players, coaches and fans. Sometimes you run into a hot goaltender and there’s not too much you can do. The manner that the Canadiens lost was not as bad compared to their poor recent efforts against Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. However, the Canadiens need wins and to get those they need goals.
It was a rough game for Nathan Beaulieu. His initial giveaway in the first period led to a quality scoring chance for Chicago and his second giveaway led to the Ryan Gurbutt’s winning goal. He was stapled to the bench for the remainder of the period (over 7 minutes) as well as the first five minutes in the second. However, Therrien still used Beaulieu in the last few minutes of play to try to get the equalizer, even with the Canadiens net empty. It was a sign of confidence in the young defenceman even though he had one of his worst games of the seasons. Therrien could have used Mark Barberio with Petry or even Alexei Emelin but chose to stick with Beaulieu. That is a sign of trust and maturity in the coach as well as the player.
Alexei Emelin on the other hand had one of his best games in quite some time. He lead the Canadiens with 4 hits, none better than the following open ice hip check:
One note on Alex Galchenyuk, he was flying last night and determined to put the past week behind him. Sometimes he would try to do too much rather than make the simple play but I liked his aggressiveness and desire to make something happen. Unfortunately, he still played two minutes less than David Desharnais due to Therrien attempting to shelter him. Eventually the reins have to come off and Therrien has to let Galchenyuk learn the hard way and from mistakes. The pros certainly outweigh the cons…
Mike Condon played an excellent game and as has been said so often, gave his teammates a chance to win. Perhaps he would have liked Gurbutt’s goal back but it was well placed just over his shoulder. He kept the Canadiens in the game and battled hard. In December his level of play tailed off a bit. That is no longer the case. The Canadiens really need to do a better job of supporting him, they owe him that. Condon’s statistics the last 7 games:
So much has been said about head coach Michel Therrien. However the Canadiens downward spiral cannot be pinned solely on him. The Canadiens are lacking pieces and after 20 flat games and nearly falling out of a playoff position, they need outside help. This time around, I don’t think that general manager Marc Bergevin has the luxury of waiting until the trade deadline of February 29th to make a deal and improve his squad. He cannot afford to see if the hopeful return of Carey Price will change the Canadiens fortunes post the all-star break. There is a strong nucleus of Canadiens players, but they need help. Price, P.K. Subban, Max Pacioretty and Brendan Gallagher are the foundation that the Habs are built on. A solid core but they need more. It won’t be easy to acquire a top 6 forward, but for the Canadiens to have a chance to make the playoffs they need additional scoring - sooner rather than later.
Until then, the Canadiens have 3-4 legitimate top 6 forwards:
Max Pacioretty-Alex Galchenyuk-Brendan Gallagher
There you have it, what should be the Canadiens # 1 line. Stack them up together and get ‘em going. The only predicament though is that if they do that, then they don’t really have a second scoring line, more like 3a & 3b which would be ok as long as one of them is contributing. Tomas Plekanec is a debatable top 6 forward. Through the first 20 games there was no doubt he was playing some of the best hockey he has ever played. So well that it convinced Bergevin to extend him early in the season. However, he has not been able to keep up that pace and is no longer creating opportunities for his wingers. Perhaps he needs to be reinvigorated but by whom?
There is a considerable drop off in terms of offensive talent after the Habs top forwards. The Canadiens have former 1st round pick Nikita Scherbak in the AHL but he has been injured for much of the season. Charles Hudon looked good in his 2 games that he played with Canadiens, earning two assists. I believe he should have had a longer look with the big club before getting demoted back to St. John’s. Sven Andrighetto and Daniel Carr stepped up and provided offence when the rest of the team was struggling but they have now been rewarded with a ticket back to Newfoundland:
First I would say this signals that Dale Weise will probably return to action this weekend. Jacob de la Rose though is an interesting choice for a call up. After training camp he was sent to St. John’s to work on his complete and offensive game. However, he was injured and missed some time due to injury. Through 24 games he has 2 goals and 7 assists for 9 points, with three of those assists coming in the last three games. De la Rose has a future in the NHL, but most likely on the 3rd or 4th line. The chances of him being able to reverse the Canadiens scoring woes are quite slim. I would have preferred to see Bud Holloway given another chance with the Canadiens. His 33 points in 35 goals leads the Ice Caps and is ranked 6th in the AHL in terms of points. Plus he plays right wing and shoots right, an area in which the Canadiens certainly need help… The Canadiens have a plethora of capable 3rd and 4th line players. Depth on those lines is not an issue. It is the top 6 that truly needs to be addressed.
The Canadiens practice today is optional and then they charter off to St. Louis to play the Blues Saturday night which is followed by a rematch with the Blackhawks in Chicago Sunday night. The players who participated in the optional were the two goaltenders as well as:
Therrien also revealed his plans for the weekend:
Defensively, De La Rose is better suited for a checking role than Daniel Carr. While Carr plays big, De La Rose is simply bigger and can play the tough defensive assignments along with Torrey Mitchell and Brian Flynn. Carr will continue to develop in the AHL and get time on the top lines there, something that will certainly benefit him in the long run. The Canadiens brass has to be pleased with his development though.
If Weise cannot go than Devante Smith-Pelly will get the opportunity to play. However, it is interesting that De La Rose is absolutely certain to play. Smith-Pelly certainly does not seem to be in the Canadiens plans right now... Mike Condon will get the start in goal.
Therrien also spoke about the time on ice differences between Galchenyuk and Desharnais as well as commenting on the two playing together:
I thought that Lars Eller made Galchenyuk defensively responsible. I simply fail to see how Desharnais makes Galchenyuk a better player in his own end. I do think that Lars Eller is better suited for third line duty but he has been the one stable for Galchenyuk this year. If Galchenyuk is going to play with Desharnais, than I would rather he play center and let Desharnais be on the wing. The problem is who plays with them on the right side. Something tells me that could be Dale Weise tomorrow night. That would leave Fleischmann-Eller-Byron on the 3rd which would actually be an effective 3rd line capable of going against the opposition’s best. We’ll find out Therrien’s true plans tomorrow after the morning skate...
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