It makes more sense for Lane Hutson to join Mike Matheson on Habs’ first power-play unit instead of replacing him.
If Cayden Primeau’s struggles continue, when would you put him on waivers in favour of a promotion for Jakub Dobes from the AHL’s Laval Rocket?
Darren — Habs and Avs on X — @DK4lighting
I would have been ready to do that after Primeau allowed five goals on 14 shots before being replaced by Sam Montembeault in Monday’s 7-5 win over the Sabres in Buffalo, during which the Canadiens allowed only one high-danger scoring chance. But GM Kent Hughes has a lot more faith in Primeau than I do and much more patience. I imagine Hughes will wait quite a bit longer — even if Primeau struggles again in his next start — especially since the Canadiens’ hopes of being “in the mix” for a playoff spot are basically gone already as they sit in last place in the overall NHL standings with a 5-10-2 record and they can look forward to another high draft pick next year.
Hughes believes another team would claim Primeau on waivers if he tried to send him to Laval, which is why the Canadiens kept three goalies for most of last season. This is the last season of Primeau’s contract and Hughes would like to get something in return for the 25-year-old goalie if he’s going to lose him. I can’t imagine that would be much.
The goaltender position is a huge question at the moment. What is Jacob Fowler’s ETA in the big leagues?
Jason A Myers
Fowler is dominating at the NCAA level for the second straight season at Boston College with a 7-1-0 record, three shutouts, a 1.26 goals-against average and a .950 save percentage. If he can maintain that level of play, it would make sense for him to turn pro at the end of this season and get some games with the Rocket and maybe even the Canadiens. If that happens, expect the Canadiens to give Fowler — who turns 20 on Nov. 25 — a long look at training camp next year to decide if he might be ready to play in the NHL. If Fowler isn’t ready for the NHL next year, a full season in the AHL won’t hurt him.
When is Lane Hutson going to replace Mike Matheson on the first power-play unit?
Deborah Hart
I’d like to see Hutson on the first power-play unit with Matheson instead of replacing him.
One thing Hutson doesn’t have is a big shot, which is a reason why he has yet to score a goal in 19 career NHL games to go along with his 12 assists. Hutson is a fantastic playmaker, but you also have to have the threat of a big shot from the point on a power play — something Matheson has. I think the two of them would complement each other well on the first PP unit. The Canadiens’ power play ranks ninth in the NHL this season with a 22 per cent success rate, so it’s not like it’s not working with Matheson. I think it could be even better if Hutson joined Matheson on the first unit.
Who sits when Patrik Laine and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard are set to return?
Lori & Wade on X — @Lori84110873
It will be interesting to see if the Canadiens decide to keep Harvey-Pinard or send him to Laval when he’s ready to return from the broken leg he suffered this summer. If they keep him, I expect Lucas Condotta will be headed back to Laval and either Alex Newhook or Kirby Dach will go back to playing centre.
If both Harvey-Pinard and Laine are ready to return to the lineup together, Harvey-Pinard could be the odd man out. I’d be surprised if the Canadiens sit out Emil Heineman, who at age 22 looks like he has a future with the team, and I think the Canadiens would be hesitant to sit out Joel Armia because they will be hoping to get something for him ahead of the NHL trade deadline on March 7 since he is in the final year of his contract. It’s hard to trade a guy if you’re not playing him.
Roy McIntyre
Armia, as noted above. Defenceman David Savard is also in the final year of his contract, as is forward Christian Dvorak. I expect all three of them will be traded. Jake Evans is also in the final year of his contract, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Canadiens try to re-sign the 28-year-old centre who has played very well this season.
Do you anticipate Hughes making a trade or signing a UFA over the summer to bring in another player to bolster the offence? A Dach/Newhook type of move or like with Laine? Would they have the cap space?
Dash Edwards
I definitely do — more likely a trade than a free-agent signing. The Canadiens can dump US$11.35 million in contracts with Dvorak, Armia and Savard, and you can add another US$1.7 million if they don’t re-sign Evans. But Juraj Slafkovsky gets a raise next season from US$950,000 to US$7.6 million so there won’t be a ton of salary-cap space available to sign a UFA.
I try to remind myself that it’s only Year 3 of the rebuild. In your opinion, is this slump les boys are in something to be concerned about or is this merely a bump in the road?
RWL on X — @Dis70Hab
I didn’t expect the Canadiens to be “in the mix” for a playoff spot this season, even if Laine was in the lineup.
The biggest question marks to me before the season started were goaltending and a very young defence. The growing pains the team is going through this season aren’t a surprise to me. What is a surprise is the lack of compete level in too many games and the fact the Canadiens have become boring to watch. As I’ve noted in previous columns and Habs Mailbags, I think head coach Martin St. Louis could use another assistant coach with plenty of NHL experience to help him out.
Rebuilds don’t have a linear progression and the Canadiens are missing the presence Sean Monahan, Johnathan Kovacevic and Jake Allen, who were all traded because they wouldn’t still be in Montreal when the rebuilding process should be more or less complete after another two seasons. The future arrival of young players Ivan Demidov, Michael Hage, Owen Beck, Logan Mailloux, David Reinbacher and Fowler should smooth out the bumps. Nobody ever said rebuilds were easy and they take more than three years to complete. I don’t believe you can really judge a rebuild until after Year 5. There are going to be more bumps in the road ahead.