MONTREAL— This is not the time for a panic move.
Last year’s Montreal Canadiens wilted in goaltender Carey Price’s 70-game absence, going from looking like Stanley Cup contenders in early December to becoming lottery participants by mid-April. Their demise was both shocking and fast, as they plummeted past the point of no return in the standings before the month of February had even come to a close.
General manager Marc Bergevin said the moves made last summer to acquire defenceman Shea Weber and forwards Andrew Shaw and Alexander Radulov were necessary to inject some much-needed character and leadership into the team and to give the club a better chance of weathering storms this season.
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We’re about to see how the Canadiens can handle six-to-eight week absences for top centres Alex Galchenyuk and David Desharnais, both of whom sustained a knee injury this past week.
This is not to say that Bergevin shouldn’t continue to work the phones to seek a trade that bolsters the centre position—a spot that was already considered to be a point of weakness for the Canadiens before these injuries occurred.
There are attractive options, like the Arizona Coyotes’ Martin Hanzal, who’s a pending unrestricted free agent and rumoured to be on the move.
Heck, there may even be longer-term solutions available for the right price.
But trying to move now would likely render Bergevin vulnerable to rival GMs, who will attempt to take advantage of his perceived desperation by forcing him to overpay.
The truth is, Bergevin has no reason to be desperate just yet.
His Canadiens have banked 37 points in the standings and boast the NHL’s best record in relation to the number of games they’ve played. There’s plenty of merit in waiting to see how the players handle this situation without the GM’s immediate intervention.
Still, expectations must be kept in check. The challenge to internally replace both centres—especially Galchenyuk—is a monumental one.
Galchenyuk had accumulated a team-leading nine goals and 14 assists before an innocuous collision with Los Angeles Kings captain Anze Kopitar knocked him out of the third period of Montreal’s 25th game.
He had served as a key member of a power play that’s gone from fifth-worst last season to seventh-best through more than one quarter of this season, and he had developed instant chemistry with Radulov.
Desharnais, who’s always been known for his offensive instincts, was best-suited to replace Galchenyuk.
Now, with him out too, the Canadiens must turn to Tomas Plekanec, whose offensive game had seemingly fallen into a black hole before he scored a goal and an assist in Montreal’s 3-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.
The hope has to be that Plekanec can take some confidence from Tuesday’s performance and begin to stray far from the path that saw him produce just one goal and six assists despite averaging over 17 minutes per game through his first 25 this season.
It’s not that far-fetched to think the 34-year-old Czech is still capable; he scored 54 of his 562 NHL points last season.
He’s not alone, either.
Shaw, who has played left and right wing with the Canadiens, is a likely candidate to move to centre and carry some of the defensive responsibility Plekanec was saddled with as the team’s No. 2 pivot.
Phillip Danault and Torrey Mitchell, who have both had impressive seasons to date, can help pick up the slack in that department, too.
Replacing Galchenyuk and Desharnais will require help from players at other positions as well.
Captain Max Pacioretty, who scored just five goals in his first 24 games, is going to have to take it to the next level on a line with Plekanec and Radulov.
Brendan Gallagher, who has just one goal in his last 20 games, is going to have to break through now. Rookies Artturi Lehkonen and Daniel Carr and sophomore Sven Andrighetto, all of whom have offensive potential, are going to have to help.
And Weber, who has one goal in his last nine games but ranks second on the team in the category, will have to pull his weight.
If even some of that comes to pass, it’ll go a long way towards ensuring the Canadiens survive this adversity.
It will also prove to Bergevin that it’s worth sacrificing futures for some players who can help this team contend once it returns to health.
Six of Montreal’s next seven games will be played at the Bell Centre, where the Canadiens have built the NHL’s strongest home record at 12-1-1.
Four of the six are against teams currently in the playoffs and Thursday’s game features a New Jersey team that’s just on the bubble.
Let’s see what this team is made of.
