I continue my team previews today with the Montreal Canadiens......I have never seen less optimism among a fanbase for this team... the most legendary of all sports franchises... And yet I feel there is way more hope than people are putting out there...
What Went Right Last Season:
The power play...I was really surprised to see the Canadiens actually had the 12th best Power Play in the NHL....In fact the general feeling when people look at this team is they don't get any scoring and yet they finished 20th in goals scored...That is not great, but would you have guessed that 10 NHL teams had a harder time finding the net than last year's Montreal Canadiens? A crazy stat is Montreal was dead last in shooting percentage in the NHL...and still finished 20th...Bad Luck? Oh, and Brendan Gallagher had a monster season.
What May Keep That From Happening Again:
Not much...I think Domi will add to the power play and as Victor Mete grows more comfortable the Power Play should still be very strong.
What Went Wrong Last Season:
The team with the best goalie in the NHL gave up 3.22 goals a game and their defense was 26th in the NHL, under a new coach in Julien whose focus tends to be on defensive responsibility...The Habs goalies were a combined .903 Save Percentage...That is nuts. And 25th worst in the NHL.
What They Did to Address Their Issues:
Apparently Carey Price is looking very focused, very healthy and ready to go...That changes everything right away...The addition of Niemi towards the end of last year really helped and the Combo of Price/Niemi will make this team better on defense by a mile...the addition of Juulsen and Mete full time has to help as well...
Goals Per Game
2.56 (20th)
Goals Against per Game
3.22 (26th)
Power Play
21.12 (12th)
Penalty Kill
74.1 (30th)
Face Off
47.5 (29th)
How old are they?
The average is 26.9, which makes them the 13th youngest team in the NHL.
How many ELC’s do they have making impacts?: 2 or 3
Two really good ones though...Victor Mete and Noah Juulsen on D will make a difference. If Kotkaniemi plays...3
Potential UFA’s/Trade Bait:
I suppose you could move Pleks again...but no one obvious...
How many homegrown are in their top 20? These are players who have really only been on one team in their career
8.... and only 1 of their top 6 forwards (Gallagher) didn't arrive via trade...that is the lowest number we've seen so far.
In what rounds were their top 20 drafted?
First: 7
Second: 4
Third: 1
4th or higher: 4
Not Drafted: 3
Where are their top 20 from?
Canada: 14 Canadiens are actually Canadians
Slovakia: 1
Finland: 3 (maybe 4 if Kotkaniemi somehow sticks)
Sweden: 1
Czech: 1
USA: 1 (Petry)
How will they do?
You tell me…
My predictions to come...
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