Free washer | The “savior” is not in Laval

The Laval Rocket locker room is probably happier than that of the Montreal Canadiens. The Rocket is off to the best start in its history with an 8-1 record. The CH farm club scored 31 goals and allowed only 19.

With three goals Saturday against the Providence Bruins, Joshua Roy brought his total to seven in nine games. He totals ten points. Defender Logan Mailloux increased his record by four points, for a total of nine after only four games. Goalkeepers Jakub Dobes and Connor Hughes shine. Especially Hughes, a find.

But at the risk of disappointing some, the Laval Rocket will not save the Montreal Canadiens. Sending Christian Dvorak or Joel Armia back to the American League would not solve CH’s problems.

Isn’t it ironic, moreover, to suggest the demotion of two members of the shorthanded unit, one of the best in the NHL until recently, and still ranked 13^e in total despite some failures in the last matches?

Roy’s recall could nevertheless bring some spark to one of the Canadian’s first three lines. The solution would undoubtedly be easier if the team did not risk losing Oliver Kapanen to his Swedish club for the rest of the winter in the event of a demotion.

But these would still be cosmetic changes. Like in defense. Logan Mailloux can easily amass two or more points per game in the American League, we saw his limits in Montreal in the third pair. He won’t return to the NHL until he learns to better defend his territory and understand the organization’s system of play, no matter how productive it is offensively.

We often make the mistake of believing that recalling a player or two from the American League will transform a failing club. Alex Barré-Boulet had two modest games in Montreal before being sent back to Laval. He has eight points in five games with the Rocket. Short-term electroshock: yes. Fixing an NHL club: no.

The American League is especially a good development league for goalkeepers and defenders, positions where maturation takes more time. We can send a young person there for a few weeks or a few months to refine his game. Sometimes, an attacker will reach a key long-term position in the National League after a few years in the minors, but rarely.

The Rocket played the first game in its American League history in October 2017, seven years ago. Since that time, how many players who spent at least one full season in Laval have moved on to a full-time position with the Canadiens? How many in a leading role?

Five. Jake Evans, Michael Pezzetta, Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, Emil Heineman and goalkeeper Cayden Primeau. Evans is the only one who can claim to have an impact, on a third or fourth line.

Michael McCarron, Noah Juulsen, Ryan Poehling and goaltender Charlie Lindgren got a chance elsewhere. They brought nothing back to the organization. Only Lindgren plays a prominent role, although Poehling and McCarron do good work on a fourth line in Philadelphia and Nashville, respectively. Jesse Ylönen played in Montreal last year, but he is back in the American League in the Lightning organization.

In short, we must not spit on the usefulness of a school club, obviously, but we must not overestimate their importance. You can improve there, provided you don’t stay there too long. As proof, Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Alex Newhook, Kirby Dach, Juraj Slafkovsky, Brendan Gallagher, Christian Dvorak, Oliver Kapanen, Josh Anderson, Mike Matheson, Lane Hutson, Arber Xhekaj, Jayden Struble and Justin Barron have not been there more than one full season (almost an entire season in the case of Matheson and Anderson, in their respective organizations, the Panthers and Blue Jackets). Newhook and Dach went to the NHL rather directly, in Colorado and Chicago.