Ne sent pas la Coupe tabernac

The habs are once again in disarray. Is it time for our collective primal scream...Yes they were in disarray last year when the pandemic hit. There were few bright spots, players having good years could be counted on one hand. Tatar, Gallagher, a revitalized Weber, and the improving Suzuki were the only positives. On the negative side Carey Price was a shell of his former self. Kotkaniemi was in the AHL, Drouin was recovering from an injury and unable to keep up, and Max Domi decided he was going to play like his Coyote days.

Well the NHL resumed the season with an improvised playoffs, the habs played like gangbusters for one series and then gradually receded back to reality against the flyers. 

Once again the habs came out like gangbusters this year with several new players. The new players produced and there was eternal hope. However, things started to fall apart at the 10 game mark and now the habs are in eternal freefall. They have changed coaches the conservative Julien replaced by new age coach Dominique Ducharme. So the habs now have the hippest looking coach and general manager. Let me be a new age hockey pundit and decree the new agers give this hockey team some shock therapy. The following paragraphs should only be read if an adult is present.

What the habs need is some alternative lateral thinking. The first shock move is to send Carey Price to the taxi squad or to the Laval Rocket and bring up Cayden Primeau. The habs organization, pundits, and fanbase have overemphasized the value of Price for way too long. Time for a change. I refuse to debate the point any longer. 

The next shock move for the new agers is get PK Subban back. He has lost a step but he is still more mobile than most of the habs defence. He has one more year on his contract so if he does not pan out habs have not lost much money. They can also try and get his ex-partner Ekholm who appears to be on the trade market in Nashville. Maybe Nashville will take back Weber.  Make Chiarot a sixth or seventh dman which is clearly what he is after making brain-dead errors virtually every game in this freefall. I would bring up Fleury or whoever is playing well in Laval, and play on a regular basis both Mete and Romanov.  Petry and Edmundson are now your top pairing. Welcome to reality.

Our right wingers are first class and probably the best foursome in the NHL with Gallagher, Anderson, Toffoli, and Perry or Armia. Our left wingers are productive but non-physical with Drouin and Tatar, and Byron is also semi-decent as a 4th line winger. We could use another Anderson clone on the left side. Where is Max lackadaisical Pacioretty when you need him? Is Goal Caufield the answer at least for the powerplay?

Now for our centers which is still a weak spot. Suzuki and Kotkaniemi are beginning to show their inexperience after good starts. Suzuki is especially looking exhausted and overwhelmed in his sophomore season. One hope is that the young legs will start pumping in the second half of the season as older centers on other teams start fading.

Danault I don’t know I don’t know. He thinks he is a first line center because that is where he has played for the last few years. He consistently shows he does not have the offensive skills to be that. He could be another Guy Carbonneau but when you think you can get first line money do you want to be a shutdown center. I don’t know what a mess. Can we get Jack Eichel for whatever the sabres want? 

The habs could be difficult in the playoffs. You need to make the playoffs first...Primal Scream ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh