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Montreal Canadiens 2017 postmortem: A wasted opportunity

By Dave Stevenson

Apr 22, 2017; New York, NY, USA; Montreal Canadiens left wing Max Pacioretty (67) shakes hands with New York Rangers left wing Pavel Buchnevich (89) after their game six of the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 22, 2017; New York, NY, USA; Montreal Canadiens left wing Max Pacioretty (67) shakes hands with New York Rangers left wing Pavel Buchnevich (89) after their game six of the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Montreal Canadiens wasted a perfect opportunity to win the Stanley Cup and must come to terms with their quickly closing championship window.

After one of the most embarrassing seasons in franchise history, the Montreal Canadiens made several significant changes. They did this knowing their championship window is closing. While Montreal has an elite wing in Max Pacioretty and an elite goaltender in Carey Price, the former is a free agent in 2019 while the latter hits free agency in just over 14 months.

The salary cap will likely prevent them from keeping both, so the Canadiens decided to start pushing their chips to the center of the table. It was in vein, as Montreal got eliminated in six games by the New York Rangers.

No move summarizes how desperate the Canadiens are than the Shea Weber for P.K. Subban blockbuster trade. Montreal gave up the latter despite knowing he’s an elite defenseman and one of the most popular players in franchise history. Their reasoning was Weber gave them a better chance to win now than Subban. P.K. is still in the playoffs with the Nashville Predators, which shows perhaps the Canadiens’ logic was flawed.

Captain Max Pacioretty referred to their first round loss as a wasted opportunity. It’s hard to see it as anything less. The NHL’s playoff format gave them what appeared to be a relatively easy path to the Eastern Conference Finals. Montreal failed to take advantage of it.

Where do they go from here?

The Canadiens were absolutely right. Their Stanley Cup window is closing. Weber is still an excellent defenseman. However, according to Corsica, over the past nine years, only six defensemen have spent more time on the ice. Those miles add up over time and the Canadiens should be worried about how many minutes Weber has left in him.

RELATED: Updated Stanley Cup Bracket

As great as Pacioretty was in the regular season, he was disappointing in the postseason. He’s no stranger to trade rumors and will likely see himself in the middle of some this offseason. As the captain of the Canadiens, a lot of their failures, whether it’s fair or not, fall on Pacioretty. A trade isn’t likely, but it can’t be ruled out.

Assuming the $73 million salary cap ceiling is stagnant for the 2017-18 season, the Montreal Canadiens project to have over $21.5 million in cap space. They must find a way to keep star pending free agent forward Alexander Radulov, as he was arguably their second best skater the whole season.

Montreal has a very difficult decision to make with Alex Galchenyuk. While they have the money to keep him, he’s been inconsistent. To be fair, the Canadiens share a lot of the blame for this, as he’s been moved around from wing to center and back numerous times. Galchenyuk could be traded this offseason, as it appears both parties aren’t too pleased with each other. The Canadiens will also have to re-sign Andrei Markov, though the aging defenseman will likely at least consider retirement.

Dwight King, Steve Ott, Andreas Martinsen and Brian Flynn are all unrestricted free agents. Defensemen Nathan Beaulieu and Nikita Nesterov are both restricted free agents. Montreal will likely keep both, though the former could be more difficult to sign than the latter.

Regarding the expansion draft, their best case scenario involves Tomas Plekanec going to the Vegas Golden Knights. While the Canadiens likely won’t lose anyone huge in the expansion draft, their offseason strategy could change depending on who gets picked. The Montreal Canadiens know their time to win a championship with this core is shrinking. So expect them to be very aggressive and active this offseason as they try to patch up their holes.

Hope for the future

The Canadiens will go into next season as legitimate Stanley Cup contenders assuming they don’t do anything silly. They have one of the best goalies in the world, a captain who you can pencil in for 30 goals, a building block on their blue line and solid depth. With the right supplementary moves, the Canadiens could ice an excellent team next season. Especially if they re-sign Radulov and figure out what to do with Galchenyuk.

Montreal could get a huge boost from a number of prospects. Jacob De La Rose could be a contributor if they want to go with a more skilled lineup. He’d be a nice fit on their third or fourth line. While De La Rose wasn’t too popular with former head coach Michel Therrien, Claude Julien will likely give him a shot at making a good first impression.

Charles Hudon will likely make the 2017-18 Opening Night Roster. He’s been a very consistent scorer in the AHL and he should be able to make an impact in the NHL. Hudon is a candidate for the expansion draft, but one has to think they’ll protect him even though he has minimal NHL experience. 2016 first round pick Mikhail Sergachev is a dark horse to contribute as a defenseman next season.

Must Read: NHL Mock Expansion Draft: Golden Knights Get Joe Thornton

The Canadiens’ unimpressive trade deadline acquisitions did them in. They went with a lineup that valued grit and hitting over scoring goals and it showed against the Rangers. While the Canadiens are a very good team, the clock is ticking for them, so expect changes. Will these changes be good or bad? The answer determines their future.

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