In the fourth installment of our 25 Montreal Canadiens in 25 days series, we take a closer look at defenceman Tom Gilbert.
Gilbert came to the Canadiens after registering a very respectable 28 points in 73 games as a top-pair defenceman on a weak 2013-14 Florida Panthers team.
The sense was that after two straight seasons in the black on the possession front (50.1 and 51.7 corsi for percentage at even strength) Gilbert could fit seamlessly into Montreal’s top four. His arrival would help balance the defence, allowing Alexei Emelin to move back to his natural side on the left while Gilbert offered puck-moving ability from the right.
There was also the thought that Gilbert’s ability to provide secondary scoring and bolster the power play would offset his lack of physicality (348 hits in 520 NHL games before signing with Montreal).
To say things didn’t quite work out as planned would be an understatement.
Who: Tom Gilbert l No. 77 l Bottom-pair defenceman (right) l 6-foot-2 l 204 pounds l Age: 32
Acquired: Signed as a UFA (2014)
Contract status: Two years, $2.8 million AAV (expires 2016)
2014-15 Stats: 72 GP l 4 G l 8 A l 12 P l 19:20 TOI l 45.7 CF%
Career stats: 592 GP l 43 G l 173 A l 216 P l 21:55 TOI l 47.6 CF%
The book on 2014-15:
Last year’s slow start was forgivable for a 31-year-old defenceman who had to adjust to a new system and get acquainted with new teammates. No one really had unreasonable expectations that Gilbert would fly out of the gate.
But that slow start turned into a long lull, as Gilbert struggled to find his place despite considerable opportunity to prove his worth in the first month of the season (he dipped below the 21-minute mark in just one of the first 12 games between October 8 and November 2).
In his remaining 60 games, Gilbert went above the 22-minute mark on just 11 occasions.
As the season wore on, the coaching staff trusted Gilbert less and less and often sheltered him from relatively difficult assignments he had customarily been given by his former teams.
The drop from 51.7 percent to 45.7 percent corsi for at even strength was confounding, if not entirely unacceptable to the countless advanced statisticians that lauded his signing as a great value coup by GM Marc Bergevin.
Gilbert averaged 46 seconds per game on the power play, which was a far cry from the 2:13 he averaged in 2013-14. As a result, he didn’t produce a point with the man advantage, which was another disappointing aspect of his season.
Conversely, Gilbert was pretty dependable in shorthanded situations, averaging 1:55 per game on a Canadiens team that finished with the seventh-best penalty kill in the league.
Gilbert’s strongest play came in the last six weeks of the regular season despite missing four games over that stretch with a fractured jaw.
Gilbert has the propensity to pass rather than skate with the puck, and the value of that wasn’t fully exploited until he was paired with speedster Nathan Beaulieu late in the season.
With Beaulieu injured, Gilbert proved reliable next to rookie Greg Pateryn for most of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, notching two goals, three assists and a plus-5 rating in 12 games.
2015-16 outlook:
Who would have thought Gilbert wouldn’t fit the mould of a defenceman that would thrive under Michel Therrien?
Oh, everyone?
Gilbert’s first season with the Canadiens certainly left a lot to be desired. Without prolific offence to rely on, the 6-foot-2 Minnesotan’s unwillingness to engage physically obviously frustrated Therrien, who has a history of not appreciating “soft” defence.
The thought of that dynamic changing in 2015-16 seems farfetched.
And a promotion to the top four is likely out of the question now that Jeff Petry is in the fold and Beaulieu is prepared for a bigger role.
Pateryn will be angling for Gilbert’s job on Montreal’s bottom pair and since Gilbert has an expiring contract and no form of protection from a trade (unlike Emelin, who has a full NTC through 2016) he’s the most likely candidate on the roster to get moved.
It wouldn’t be hard for an opposing general manager to justify adding Gilbert as a fit with a coach who places greater emphasis on possession than Therrien does. That would mean a decent return on Bergevin’s investment.
