Before the 4 nations tournament, the Montreal Canadiens looked like a team that simply ran out of gas after giving it their all to climb back into the playoffs conversation.
Most fans didn’t even blame them, they couldn’t possibly keep up such an insane pace after going 11-2-1 from December 17th to January 16th. The Habs followed this amazing stretch with a 3-8-1 record until the break that had fans and analysts alike convinced Montreal would enter the trade deadline firmly into the “sellers” camp.
Well it seems the Canadiens players had a completely different idea of how things should go. To quote Juraj Slafkovsky, who was dissatisfied with his own play since the beginning of the season, the team came out and played “angry”. From the first game back from the break against Ottawa, you saw players hit, play with intensity and pretty much rekindle the kind of games they played from mid December to mid January.
Was it simply the much needed break that gave them new life? Were they inspired by watching the 4 nations tournament (and Canada’s win!), wanting to also play in high stakes games? Whatever it was, it has, once again, turned the season around for Montreal.
With their first 5 games winning streak since 2022, Montreal is once again firmly in the playoffs race, being 1 point behind the Detroit Red Wings and the last Wild Card spot, Detroit having one game in hand.
It certainly has made things very interesting as the trade deadline approaches and two philosophies collide inside the Montreal Canadiens faithful. Some want management to not be influenced by the latest stretch of games, keep their decisions focused on the long term and trade any upcoming UFA that might not stick around past this season.
Others will point to the team that just got beaten twice in a row by the Tricolor, the Buffalo Sabres, as the potential risk of maintaining a losing culture and the hardships that comes with clawing out of it.
Personally, I don’t think there’s a wrong answer here. Both visions have their positive and negative impacts on the team. Personally, considering their current position, I don’t see how you could justify trading away Jake Evans and Joel Armia when you see your players play with such a drive and a desire to try and make the playoffs. I still think Montreal should find a way to keep Joel Armia around past this season, which would soften the risk of keeping both players for the last quarter of the season.
This is how much that five game winning streak has changed things, it would have been easy to trade assets away being 5 points out of a playoff spot. Being so close makes it much, much harder.
Dach injured but barely missed
The Canadiens announced on friday that Kirby Dach was operated on his right knee and will miss the remainder of the season. It’s a terrible ending to a very disappointing season for Dach. Despite the team removing any kind of pressure on him, communicating to the fans on numerous occasions how it would take time for him to regain his form from the beginning of the 2023-2024 season, Dach never managed to come close to reaching the expectations people had for him. Kirby is still signed until the end of next season and it’s likely he plays with the team again, his value likely at an all time low making a trade unlikely to truly help the Canadiens. This being said, the odds of him beginning the year next fall as the team’s 2nd line centre are slim. I fully expect Kent Hughes to be on the lookout for trades, perhaps using his numerous draft picks, to find a more suitable player to fill that role.
What’s even worse for Dach is the fact his line has actually looked somewhat better with rookie Owen Beck centering the 2nd line. Beck doesn’t produce much offense yet, but his sound positioning defensively and his intensity on the forecheck and along the boards has created opportunities for his linemates. On the flipside, since he’s not on any special teams unit, it tends to hurt his playing time in some games despite Martin St-Louis obviously trusting him, even in tight games.
With one more game until the trade deadline, the pressure will be on Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton to make the right decision for both the present and the future of this team. Meanwhile, the players can make things even more interesting by winning their game against the Oilers and, perhaps, sit inside the playoffs picture as management makes their decision.
Thank you all for reading and have a nice day!
Hugo Brossoit (Scabeh)
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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