Jonathan Drouin Healthy Scratch In Home Opener

Jonathan Drouin Healthy Scratch In Home Opener

Written by Fred Arshoff

Before diving into this article, I would like to thank   Scott Thompson on Twitter  r for the idea, and the many others who asked me about this same topic.

I was thinking since the start of the Canadiens training camp that either I was thinking since the start of the Canadiens training camp that either should be made a healthy scratch for the home opener, as well as other games, if their play from last season doesn’t improve. Neither of them showed me very much improv

ement during the training camp, whether is was someting I read or in any of the preseason games I saw on TV.With making the veterans  With making the veterans Drouin or Hoffman a healthy scratch, particularly in the home opener, it sends a message to the entire team. If you don’t play well you sit out and we will play the younger players who give us 120% at all times

.For Drouin this will be more disappointing, as it’s on his home turf as he is from just outside of Montreal. So being a healthy scratch in his own backyard will surely hurt him and perhaps doing this  head coach Martin St. Louis  sent a message to him to start producing if you wish to be dressed and if dressed not be on the fourth line. 

 also believe if and when Drouin and Hoffman do get to play and their play isn’t what it’s supposed to be, both will be traded before the end of season.

Both Drouin and Hoffman did get to play not only a regular shift last season, but also on the power play, which was very ineffective. I do admit it’s normally five players on the ice for the power play. One of the assistant coaches, in the case of the Canadiens it is Alex Burrows, who designs the power play system, but all the players have to produce. If two players, or even one player, isn’t doing what they are supposed to be doing, it won’t help score power play goals. By scoring on the man advantage, the opposition won’t take as many liberties against the Habs smaller players knowing that Montreal has the ability to light the lamp when the opposition is in the box.

What we have to worry about with Drouin’s case is whether he will get negative reactions from being made a healthy scratch in his home town. Don’t forget, he did miss a significant amount of time, including the Canadiens’ run to the Cup Final due to mental health issues and insomnia.

n closing, I would love to see Drouin return to the form he played with in the QMJHL that he has never showed in the NHL. Let’s remember that the Tampa Bay Lightning demoted him to their AHL affiliate due to his play and also let’s hope Hoffman can also start playing well again.

Why Jordan Harris Made Canadiens Not Justin Barron

Why Jordan Harris Made Canadiens Not Justin Barron

Written by Fred ArshoffWritten by Fred Arshoff

Before diving into this article once again many thanks to Marlene Wall for the excellent merging of the two photos into one to make the cover photo of this article.

I will admit in a prevouis article I had Barron making the Candieans making the opening day roster over Harris, but I do see the point of the Montreal Candieans hockey opersations keeping Harris over Barron. I will explain why.

While Barron has professional hockey experience playing three years in the AHL and several games with the Montreal Candieans after they aquired him in the Lenkoian trade and he played until he suffered a high ankle injury,
Harris played a limit number of with the Montreal Candieans after his NCAA career came to an end.

First of all Harris is older thus more mature and that can play a big party of what management wanted not being in the meetings nor did they rlease to any media reasons any deceission I’m sure Harris age maturity was considered.

Then in preseason games Harris did play better then Barron I’m very sure that came into play as well.

Also several key members including general manger Kent Hughes knows Harris personally as thir sons played with him or against him in NCAA so they know his chacter very well.

Also both Harris and Barron are waiver extempt so if Harris plays isn’t good he can be sent down and Barron brought up. If Barrron is brought up like that and he play goes south they can simply rotate them again.

Both Barron and Harrris when playing for the Laval Rocket the Montreal Candieans AHL affliate I’m very sure will be playing top pairing defence minutes, to speed up their devlopment.

What will hurt Barron and Harris if sent down latter is both are on a two way contract thus their pay will be consioderbly be less thenif up with the Montreal Candieans, The avaerage pay in the AHL is around $80,000 while the NHL minimum is $750,000 so both players will be doing their very best to stay with the Montreal Candieans,

In closing I feel both Harris and Barron will have key impacts with the Montreal Candieans for many years to come.

Who Needs To Improve For Canadiens To Reach The Playoffs In 2022-23

Who Needs To Improve For Canadiens To Reach The Playoffs In 2022-23

Written by Fred Arshoff

Before going into this article I once again would like to thank Marlene Wall, very much, for the merging of the two photos into one to make the cover photo for this article. Marlene please take a bow for your outstanding work.

I would also like to thank my Editor, very much, for always doing an outstanding job of correcting my grammar, correcting any misspelled words and verifying the facts and correcting all that are needed. My editor doesn’t wish to have his name mentioned.

As I’m sure most of you recall in the 2021-22 season the Montreal Canadiens power play was completely terrible. There are 2 players who I feel have to contribute more for the PP to regain respect from the other NHL teams. If the opponents know the power play isn’t going to produce they will take all kinds of liberties against the Habs and know their power play isn’t very likely to score so why not take the chances.

The Habs assistant coach Alex Burrows is still in charge of the power play. Perhaps, or maybe not being present at coaches meetings, if new head coach Martin St. Louis spoke to him to give him some fresh ideas of what to do to make it work like the power play should. I’m not saying they have to score on 80% of their power plays but at a much better rate than last season.

There are a few Canadiens that were on the power play last season not back so they can rebuild it with fresh guys moving forward. They still have Chris Wideman who was considered a sort of power play specialist when then General Manager Marc Bergevin signed him for the 2021-22 season. I will admit last season they did miss Shea Weber, on the power play, and he was traded away during the off season and not expected to play again either. Who I would expect may take up some of the slack is Kaiden Guhle who has looked to be very impressive in the preseason games he has participated in.

Who needs to show a huge improvement in their play is Jonathan Drouin and Mike Hoffman. They both play on the power play as well as playing their regular shifts. I’m not asking either of them to play the penalty kill as both are supposed to be offensive threats so let them put up the points they are paid to produce. With their NHL experience I would expect both of them to get 70-80 points a season. Also as NHL veterans they have to show the younger players how things are done and not being effective doesn’t do that at all.

What might help is, the head coach, Martin St. Louis knows Jonathan as they were teammates years ago in Tampa Bay and probably knows which buttons to push to get him to perform up to his expectations. Let’s hope the magic St. Louis had with Cole Caufield can return and work on Drouin as well. I’m sure Drouin did show lots of potential, at one time, that he still hasn’t shown here yet…

Who I Believe Will Be On The Montreal Canadiens Defence To Start The 2022-23 Season

Who I Believe Will Be On The Montreal Canadiens Defence To Start The 2022-23 Seaso

Written by Fred Arshoffn

First of all when reading this please remember this is my take on who I feel will be on the defence to start the season and not the choices the Habs may, or may not, make. My choices also are based on no further defencemen injuries as of October 7, 2022.

The first thing is that Joel Edmundson start the season on the LTIR (Long Term Injured Reserve) list as there is no timeline yet for his return. Keeping him on the IR (Injured Reserve) would be a waste of salary cap. When a player is on LTIR the salary doesn’t go against the salary cap.

Next as most of you probably figured out David Savard, Michael Matheson and Chris Wideman, not that he impresses me but due to his experience and to replace Petry on the power play.

Kaiden Guhle would make my team especially with the improvement I’ve seen in the last few games. He also would be very effective on the power play.

What’s not to like about Arber Xhekaj due to his very good defensive play, his size, his weight and his very hard body checks. This would be a great replacement for Alexander Romanov who was traded at the NHL Entry Draft. I also see him being very useful on the penalty kill. Also he is well liked by his team mates and he will drop his gloves to protect them.

Then for my sixth defenceman I would keep Justin Barron due to him having more professional experience than Harris.
Harris can play professional with the Rocket to start the year. Laval I feel would be best for his development.

For my seventh defenceman, although he didn’t have a very impressive training camp or shine in the preseason games, I would keep Corey Schueneman.

The only reason I am sending Harris to Laval is due to his age and to let him fully develop and learn to play against bigger players. Beside the 10 games with the Canadiens, last season, he has no professional experience and I feel he has to learn that and then come up and stay up for a long time.

I feel Otto Leskinen has played himself off the starting defence. He never showed me anything, and he spent two seasons playing with the Laval Rocket. Then last season playing back in Europe and hasn’t shown much improvement from what I recall and he has made costly giveaways.

I do agree fully with sending Norlinder to start the season with the Laval Rocket and get adjusted to the North American game. Let’s remember when he first came back to the Laval, at the end of the European season, after a few games he suffered a concussion and missed a couple of weeks in the AHL playoffs where he was playing mostly on the powerplay. It’s best to let him get adjusted to North American play as a defenceman with Laval and have him develop if he has to be called up in case of injuries on the Canadiens defence.

For Gianni Fairbrother I also feel he showed me not enough to stay up and was glad when he was sent back to Laval. Having AHL experience can help him mentor the younger defencemen playing in Laval.

Jake Allen Gets Two Year Contract Extension

Jake Allen Gets Two Year Contract Extension

Written by Fred Arshoff

On Saturday October 1, 2022 the Montreal Canadiens came to an agreement with Jake Allen to give him a two year contract extension that makes him signed until July 1, 2025 with a salary cap hit of 3.85 million per season.
Right off the top I will say this is an excellent signing by Kent Hughes and I will explain why. This shows me that Hughes is thinking and trying his best to protect the Habs key assets.
We all know Carey Price is injured (his knee) and won’t play this season as was already announced. There are many who are saying, sadly, that Price’s hockey career is over and personally I also feel his hockey career as an active player is over. He can work in hockey hopefully with the Canadiens in their hockey operations department in some capacity. That doesn’t take away the fact they do need another goalie with experience. That, Jake Allen has.
For the benefit of those who don’t know Jake Allen played his Jr. hockey right here in Montreal thus he knows the city well.
With Jake Allen being signed it means the bleu, blanc et rouge don’t have to rush Cayden Primeau as much and can give him the time to develop fully. We saw last season 2021-22 he let in soft goals and lost confidence so by spending an extra year with the Laval Rocket he will fully develop hopefully.
This salary increase won’t really cause too many problems in the salary cap, as there are going to be some higher contracts coming off.
For Allen this gives him security knowing he will be employed and by being extended before his contract terminates he knows the Canadiens like him and trust him to be their goalie.
The pay Jake Allen will be getting is very reasonable. It gives Allen a raise that he rightfully deserves as on his previous contract he was getting paid as if he was the backup goalie and now he’s the number one. Unless they make a trade to acquire a better number one goalie and I don’t see that happening with the way the salary cap is.

In closing this contract extension is a definite win-win for both the Montreal Canadiens and Jake Allen.

Source
Jake Allen’s salary cap and Montreal Canadiens salary cap

https://www.capfriendly.com/teams/canadiens

Joshua Roy And Riley Kidney Loaned To Their Respective QMJHL Teams

Joshua Roy And Riley Kidney Loaned To Their Respective QMJHL Teams

Written by Fred Arshoff

Before diving into this article I would like to thank Marlene Wall very much for her usual excellent job of merging the pics to make the cover photo for the article.

On Friday September 30, 2022 early in the morning the Montreal Canadiens announced that they have loaned Joshua Roy and Riley Kidney to their respective QMJHL teams.

Right off the top I will say I agree with this not 100% but 500%, and I will explain why this is an excellent decision.

I’m very sure the key people involved in the decision were Kent Hughes GM, Martin St. Louis Head Coach, Adam Nicholas Director of Hockey Development and Rob Ramage Director of Player Development.

If Roy or Kidney would have stayed for the start of the regular season it’s most likely they would be on the fourth line and getting very little playing time or be a healthy scratch. That would hinder their development. As Kent Hughes said, earlier, this is a year of development for the Montreal Canadiens. He is doing what he said he would do. Thus he is being very transparent with us the fans, and also doing what is best for the Habs organization long term. Having the younger players further developed before putting them in the NHL. As an example of rushing a high draft pick and possibly ruining their NHL career, long term, just look at Alex Galchenyuk. He was the third overall draft pick and they had him on the Canadiens roster not too long after the draft and now several years later he was just released from his PTO (Professional Try Out) contract by Colorado. The drafting of Galchenyuk and having him stay with the Habs was done by former General Manager Marc Bergevin. Another player that was rushed was Jesperi Kotkaniemi who we saw struggle in the final two years where he couldn’t crack the Canadiens lineup, at times, and a scratch for some of the playoffs. This is one of the reasons he signed the Qualifying Offer that I still consider a hostile offer sheet.
Due to their age Roy and Kidney can’t be sent to Laval to play and even if they could I don’t believe they would have been on the top two lines to aid their development. Both were called up for the Laval Rocket’s Calendar Cup to be Black Aces and Roy did get into one game but he wasn’t nearly as noticeable, on the ice, as he was while playing in the QMJHL, thus showing he needs development.

Roy and Kidney, this year, will be on a top line for their respective teams and get lots of playing time to help their development. While they are playing, the Canadiens really can’t work with them but they can scout the games to watch their progress and speak to them and give them words of encouragement.

I feel this is a win-win for both the Habs and Joshua Roy and Riley Kidney. With proper development they will become better players and have a better chance at a longer NHL career provided they suffer no major injuries as one never knows when that can happen. For the Canadiens it means when they do make the team they will be further developed and less likely to make mistakes and have a long successful career, hopefully with the Montreal Canadiens.

In closing I’d like to thank Kent Hughes for making the right choice and allowing Roy and Kidney to further their development in the QMJHL and ensuring the Habs will have them when they are fully developed.