Patrik Laine personified hope for the Canadian and his fans. It was said that his offensive abilities could only help an attack that had been scoring goals sparsely in recent years. The most optimistic dreamed of participating in the series.
But hope has given way to despair since Laine fell in battle. The unfortunate left knee injury suffered by the Finnish striker calls everything into question. It has become illusory to believe that the Habs could be in the spring tournament next April.
It’s back to square one. The Habs are once again facing the unknown and adversity in this third year of construction. But as Martin St-Louis said this week, life goes on. His players must turn the page and not let themselves be bothered by Laine’s absence. It will do them no good to cry.
They will have to move forward and surpass themselves. Victory is the essence of sport.
What can we expect?
Ideally, the Canadian should maintain a .500 record to show fans that he is heading in the right direction. That means six more points compared to last season.
This is achievable as long as the team meets certain conditions.
Let’s see which ones.
90 goals for the Suzuki trio
More than ever, it will be up to young people to assert themselves. The Habs became the team of Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Kirby Dach, Kaiden Guhle and Arber Xhejaj. We are entitled to expect a greater contribution from the Slakovsky-Suzuki-Caufield trio.
The three combined for 81 goals last season, including 33 for Suzuki, 28 for Caufield and 20 for Slafkovsky, who was promoted to the top line in December. A harvest of 90 goals is therefore achievable.
Now we will have to see who will replace Laine alongside Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook. A chance is offered to Josh Anderson, who, with an average annual salary of 5.5 million, is paid like a second line player.
Could he take advantage of it?
His statistics are more those of a third line player. He had seasons of 17, 19, 21 and 9 goals in his first four campaigns in Montreal. That’s an expensive goal!
Another option would be for St-Louis to dismember its first line in order to better balance its group of top six forwards.
Reduce the number of goals allowed
Jeff Gorton said it right off the bat at the team’s golf tournament. The Canadian will have to allow fewer goals to the opponent. At the time, the vice-president of operations expressed this opinion when asked what his team needed to do to be in the playoff race.
The situation remains, regardless of the objectives that the Canadian will be able to pursue. An improvement in defense is essential.
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The Habs ranked 26e in this regard, last season, with a goals against average of 3.43 per game. This was a slight improvement from the previous season, when the team finished 28th with a 3.72 ERA.
It will be up to attackers, defenders and goalkeepers alike to ensure that the number of goals allowed drops.
Goalkeepers will need to excel
When a team goes through a phase of renewal of its squad, we tend to be less harsh towards its goalkeepers. Samuel Montembeault and Cayden Primeau did well overall last year. But they will have to raise their game another notch and show greater stability.
Too often last season they were thwarted by easy shots. It makes everyone’s job harder.
It’s never easy playing catch-up hockey.
Will St. Louis get the big offense going?
We can never emphasize enough the importance of special teams. Coaches are used to saying that an overall average of 100% for mass offense and numerical penalties is a positive indicator in a team’s performance.
The Canadian experienced an increase from 88.8% to 95.9% last season. Progress must continue.
Following the departure of Alex Burrows, Martin St-Louis decided to take charge of the massive attack.
Why not?
He knows his stuff. Author of 101 power play goals during his career, he did not hesitate to transmit his ideas to John Tortorella when he defended the colors of Tampa Bay.
Last year, the massive attack maintained an average efficiency of 17.5% for the 27e rank in the National Hockey League. This was a slight improvement of 1.4% compared to the 2022-2023 season.
An efficiency average above 20% would be desirable to move things forward.
The progression was more marked in terms of numerical inferiorities. From 72.7% two years ago, the Habs increased their efficiency average to 76.5% last season, also finishing 27th.e in this chapter.
