Last week, when Marc Bergevin got Dale Weise back from Philadelphia I was browsing Twitter and a particular tweet caught my eye:
How many of these players are still with the team? 2. Brendan Gallagher and Paul Byron. You can add another 2 when you take a look at the injury list at that time: Carey Price (lower body), Daniel Carr (lower body), Jeff Petry (lower body), Brian Flynn (lower body), David Desharnais (broken foot), Tom Gilbert (lower body), Nathan Beaulieu (lower body). So, since that god awful 2015-2016 season, only 4 players are still with the Bleu, Blanc, Rouge: Gally, Byron, Carey Price and Jeff Petry. That seems to be an awfully short list but looking at that line-up, I can't help to think thank god! When that season ended, Montreal had 38 wins, 38 losses and 6 OT losses for a total of 82 points which meant that they missed the playoffs. If we take a look at those who have left, it's hard to miss most of them really...
Pacioretty: Now plying his trade in Vegas, replaced by Tomas Tatar (who appears to have a much better influence on the team), (eventually we hope Nick Suzuki) and a second round pick. Looking at Tatar's impact on this team, it's safe to say that it's been an improvement.
Lars Eller: Sent to Washington at the draft in 2016 for two 2nd round draft pick in 2017 and 2018. The Canadiens then sent 2 2nd round pick for the 2016 draft to Chicago and received Andrew Shaw in return. Say what you will about Shaw but he's an intense player who knows how to win. He has had a lot of injury trouble lately but when he's been healthy he's been able to contribute in meaningful fashion, his stint with Domi and Drouin was impressive.
In the meantime, Eller is not having a bad time in Washington, he's their 3rd line centre and now has a Stanley Cup to his name but it's doubtful he would have been able to come out of his shell that way in Montreal.
Alex Galchenyuk: Another victim of the attitude purge, Bergevin sent him to Arizona in return of Max Domi. I think I've been pretty clear in the past about that trade.
Tomas Plekanec:He once was the Habs' first centre and an offensive menace but it wasn't the case in the last few years. He's now back home playing for Brno.
Thomas Fleischmann: Sent to Chicago alongside with Weise in February 2016, he finished the year with the Hawks and never played another regular season game in the NHL.
Jacob de la Rose: Lost to waivers this year and playing on the Red Wings 4th line, he's got 7 points in 45 games. And yup, back then he was our third line centre!
Sven Andrighetto: shipped to Colorado at the 2017 deadline in exchange for Andreas Martinsen. "Ghetto" is now the Avs' 4th line winger, much like he was for us in 2016. As for Martinsen, he was sent to Chicago for Kyle Baun and is currently in the AHL. Meanwhile, Kyle Baun is now playing for the Belfast Giants in the Elite ice Hockey League (in the United Kingdom - There's nothing elite about this league aside from the word being part of its name).
Torrey Mitchell: Sent to LA for a conditional 5th round pick, he now plays in Europe for Lausanne's team in the Swiss A League.
Devante Smith-Pelly: He was also sent packing in February 2016 when the Habs got Stefan Matteau from the Devils for his right. He stayed there for a year before signing with Washington as a free agent and became a cup champion alongside Lars Eller. He currently plays as the Caps' 4th line right winger. As for Matteau, he's now in the Vegas Knight's organization playing in the AHL.
On the blue line: Victor Bartley didn't play in 2016-2017, played in Sweden the following season and is now in the KHL. Alexei Emelin landed with the Preds after we lost him in the expansion draft and is now in the KHL. Andrei Markov is also in the KHL although the argument could be made that the Habs do still miss him (he got 33 points last year and now has 14 in 55 games, the years might have caught up with him). Pateryn was traded to the Stars alongside a 4th round pick for Jordie Benn. Pateryn is now a 3rd pairing d-man in Minnesota much like Benn with the Habs. We all know that Subban was sent to Nashville for Weber, both are still with their respective team and have struggled with injury in the last few seasons. Barberio was claimed by the Avalanche on waivers and is still with them although he's only played 12 games this season.
In net: Ben Scrivens finished the season with the Habs and then went on to play in the KHL and as for Mike Condon, the Penguins claimed him on waivers before trading him to the Sens. Right now he's playing with the Belleville Sens in the AHL.
While I'll be the first to admit that I was thoroughly annoyed when Marc Bergevin sent Subban to Nashville for Weber, it's hard not to admire Bergevin's work in the last few years...Getting Danault from the Hawks (who will be a great 3rd line centre one day, once our prospects at C are ready), getting Domi and Tatar, drafting Kotkaniemi 3rd overall even though he was projected lower, hanging on to Brendan Gallagher who's now the heart of his team...Yes, Bergevin has turned things around and looking at today's line-up, it's impossible not to be optimistic.
Is such a player turnover the norm in the NHL? I thought i'd compare with the other teams in the Atlantic division:
Tampa Bay: 11 players leftover: Ryan Callahan, Yanni Gourde, Victor Hedman, Tyler Johnson, Alex Killorn, Nikita Kucherov, Ondraj Palat, Cedric Paquette, Steven Stamkos, Anton Stralman, Andrei Vassilevskiy.
Buffalo: 8 players left: Zach Bogosian, Zemgus Girgensons, Johan Larsson, Jake McCabe, Sam Reinhart, Rasmus Ristolainen, Evan Rodrigues, Linus Ullmark.
Boston: 9 players left: Noel Acciari, Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara, David Krejci, Torrey Krug, Brad Marchand, Kevan Miller, David Pastrnak, Tuukka Rask.
Detroit: 12 players left: Justin Abdelkader, Andreas Athanasiou, Danny DeKeyser, Jonathan Ericsson, Luke Glenndening, Mike Green, Darren Helm, Jimmy Howard, Niklas Kronwall, Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha, Gustav Nyqvist.
Florida: 7 players left: Aleksander Barkov, Aaron Ekblad, Jonathan Huberdeau, Roberto Luongo, Derek MacKenzie, Mike Matheson, Vincent Trotcheck.
Ottawa: 9 players left: Craig Anderson, Mark Borowiecki, Cody Ceci, Ryan Dzingel, Ben Harpur, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Bobby Ryan, Zack Smith, Mark Stone.
Toronto: 9 players left: Connor Brown, Jake Gardiner, Frederik Gauthier, Zach Hyman, Nazeem Kadri, Kasperi Kapanen, William Nylander, morgan Rielly, Gareth Sparks
Well, the Habs officially have the highest turnover of the division in the last 3 years and I guess that should make us happy. When Carey Price had his injury plagued season in 2015-2016, the team revealed its true self, a team which couldn't win and couldn't even really compete. That offseason, Bergevin started to turn a corner by trading away Subban and piece by piece he replaced / let go (of) some pieces that just couldn't work. 3 years later, as we look at the 2016 line-up, we can't help but think that the 2019 version is much better. Of course, this team is not a contender yet, there's a lot of work left to do on the defence but things are heading in the right direction, chin up Habs fans good things are coming.
Thinking about it, this was probably the only happy memory of that 2015-2016 season
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