The Canadian/The team of the first quarter of a century | The attackers

Richard Labbé: We can quickly agree on the top 6 on attack, I think? Regardless of positions.

Simon-Olivier Lorange : If Chris Higgins is there, yes.

Guillaume Lefrançois: …

Guillaume Lefrançois: And top 5 of Koivu, Plekanec, Pacioretty, Danault and Suzuki seems self-evident to me.

Richard Labbé: The top 6 seems to me to be already written in advance: Saku Koivu, Tomas Plekanec, Max Pacioretty, Brendan Gallagher, Alex Kovalev, Nick Suzuki. Do we agree on that?

Guillaume Lefrançois: You made a typo in “Phillip Danault”.

Richard Labbé: An overvalued player according to Marc Bergevin, I remind you.

But I definitely see it in the second top 6.

Simon-Olivier Lorange : Danault or Christian Dvorak? As we know, they are interchangeable.

Guillaume Lefrançois: It’s very funny because I was going to say that Danault is the Canadian striker of the 2000s who came closest to winning an individual trophy (I exclude the Masterton), when he finished 6^e for the Selke in 2020 and 2021. Then, I noticed that Max Pacioretty had also finished 6^e for the Selke.

Simon-Olivier Lorange : But yes, without kidding, there is no real debate on the top 6. It will be played out in the DEPTH.

Richard Labbé: So that’s a settled matter.

Simon-Olivier Lorange : The Selke Trophy votes are a mystery. Jordan Staal was named in 2024 with a rating of -14.

Richard Labbé: Attackers 8 to 13, what does that mean?

Guillaume Lefrançois: In fact, to return to your remark at the beginning, I see a top 7 concrete, i.e. your 6 players + Danault. Then comes the depth.

Richard Labbé: OK, so let’s go with Danault as 7^e attacker.

Guillaume Lefrançois: I can get wet for my next ones.

Richard Labbé: It’s time.

Guillaume Lefrançois: Desharnais: because behind every great winger, there is a good center. Caufield: The best 30-goal scorer who hasn’t scored 30 yet, but I see a number that starts with 4 this year. Byron: for his versatility, and his goal in Toronto in 2021. Zednik: the 20 year old fan in me speaking. Monahan: the Canadian died the two seasons he was out of training. Radulov: It was still exciting, right?

Richard Labbé: No love for Mike Ribeiro.

Simon-Olivier Lorange : Sean Monahan? Are you drinking?

Guillaume Lefrançois: At 9 a.m., as always.

Simon-Olivier Lorange : If our poor reader knew that we are writing this at 9 a.m. in the morning…

Richard Labbé: But Monahan played here for, what, 6 weeks?

Simon-Olivier Lorange : A total of 52 points in 74 games isn’t too bad. But I’m still in shock.

Richard Labbé: I mean, at this point, I’m going to tell you about Erik Cole.

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Simon-Olivier Lorange : Personally I think we should not forget Tomas Tatar. If Danault and Gallagher are there, we need the third member of the trio. It was still a dominant offensive combination across the NHL for three seasons.

Guillaume Lefrançois: The two years Monahan was there, the Canadian must have been rotten. The team ended up being decent, then it turned rotten as soon as he was 1) injured and 2) traded.

I don’t hate Tatar, but his slow sidelining during the 2021 playoffs tarnishes his legacy a bit.

Simon-Olivier Lorange : It seems anecdotal to me. A bit like Sean Monahan’s contribution to the playoffs with the Canadian.

Richard Labbé: You forget the club’s top scorer in 2001-2002.

Simon-Olivier Lorange : Yanic Perreault?

Richard Labbé: Exactly.

Simon-Olivier Lorange : I take Perreault before Monahan. It’s not a joke.

Guillaume Lefrançois: The fan in me hesitated between Perreault and Zednik. But Zednik had something bloody coming for me.

Simon-Olivier Lorange : This has especially been the case in Florida, but let’s not go there.

Guillaume Lefrançois: Oyoyoye

Richard Labbé: Radulov, too, seems to me that it was very brief.

Guillaume Lefrançois: Monahan, I walked along seeing him go to Columbus. There too, he works miracles with the limited resources around him. It reminded me that he does a lot here too.

Simon-Olivier Lorange : It’s certain that if we start congratulating players who are good elsewhere, we’re going to have a long day.

Richard Labbé: The John LeClair Rule.

Guillaume Lefrançois: Radulov, there was something symbolic. The Canadian had difficulty attracting free agents, and I know that several teams wanted nothing to do with him, but it was still a big name arriving in Montreal. And during the 2017 playoffs, when the offense was off, he was one of the only ones who stood out.

Guillaume Lefrançois: A winning goal in overtime at the Bell Center cannot be forgotten either.

Richard Labbé: I don’t remember it.

Simon-Olivier Lorange : If I leave Radulov with you, will you trade Monahan for Tatar?

Guillaume Lefrançois: The basis of our democracy is compromise, so I’m going to be an adult of myself and take your olive branch that you offer me.

Richard Labbé: So therefore, the top 6 from below: Desharnais, Caufield, Byron, Zednik, Tatar, and…?

Richard Labbé: Ribeiro ?

Perreault ?

Guillaume Lefrançois: I vote Perreault. Just for the anthology moment it generated at 110 %.

Simon-Olivier Lorange : Perreault too, for his winning goal against the Bruins in the first round in 2002.

Richard Labbé: OK, so that’s settled.

Guillaume Lefrançois: See, it was me who forgot his winning goal in the playoffs.