Will Alex Burrows be running the power play again next season and would the Canadiens think about trying Lane Hutson as a forward?
What’s the probability of another Canadiens goaltending controversy this season? The emergence of Sam Montembeault and Cayden Primeau last season occurred while sharing the net with Jake Allen. Do you think the two-goalie system will lead to a goalie controversy — Part Deux — as Primeau gets more opportunity?
Scott Hinckley
Port Saint Lucie, Fla.
I think management would embrace a goalie controversy because that would mean both Montembeault and Primeau are playing well. Montembeault will start the season as the No. 1 goalie, but management will want Primeau to push him. Having said that, I don’t think the plan will be for either one to play more than 50-55 games. Primeau is entering the final season of his contract, earning US$890,000, and will be highly motivated to prove he is a legitimate NHL goalie. Montembeault will be entering the first season of his three-year, US$9.45-million contract and will want to prove he’s a legitimate No. 1.
“We push each other,” Primeau said at the end of last season. “I’ve been saying it all year. We have a friendly competition, a friendly competitive spirit. We want to see each other succeed. But, at the end of the day, we both want the net. We’re both pushing each other and it’s a good camaraderie and relationship.”
Do you foresee Alex Burrows continuing to start next season running the power play?
Tony Martins
I know Montreal has one of the stronger prospect pools in the league, but I was curious who you believe is a prospect that doesn’t get as much attention that could surprise in a few years.
Matthew Mazzalonga
Although this is unlikely to happen, I thought it would be fun to explore if Habs management would consider moving Lane Hutson to forward. He could possibly be a top-six forward they need. I’ve been a Habs fan since the late 1960s and I don’t recall them ever converting a defenceman to forward. I believe the Leafs converted Wendel Clark, which worked out quite well.
Roland from Bradford, Ont.
Clark was indeed a defenceman with the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades when the Leafs selected him with the No. 1 overall pick at the 1985 NHL Draft. Clark had 32-55-87 totals and 253 penalty minutes in 64 games the previous season with the Blades and was also a defenceman with Team Canada when it won gold at the 1985 world junior championship. Clark went on to post 330-234-564 totals in 793 NHL games as a forward, along with 1,690 penalty minutes. The Canadiens selected Rick Chartraw as a defenceman in the first round (10th overall) of the 1974 NHL Draft. The Canadiens were stacked on the blue line at the time — led by the Big Three of Larry Robinson, Serge Savard and Guy Lapointe — so Chartraw was often used as a forward on a team that won four consecutive Stanley Cups, starting in 1976. The game has changed a lot since those days and become much more specialized, so you rarely see players changing positions. I don’t expect the Canadiens to use Hutson as a forward — although it would be fun to see.
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