Weber’s injury should spur rebuild
Now is the time for Marc Bergevin to start using the word “rebuild.”
It’s also time for the Montreal Canadiens GM to start doing it and forget about his so-called “reset.”
With the news Thursday that defenceman Shea Weber will be sidelined until mid-December after knee surgery last month, it’s time for the Canadiens to forget about winning next season — and probably for a few seasons — and start trying to rebuild a franchise that finished 28th in the NHL last season and has missed the playoffs in two of the last three years.
The timing is perfect. When Bergevin dealt P.K. Subban to the Nashville Predators two summers ago it was a trade made for the present, not the future, and it has backfired badly. The Predators advanced to the Stanley Cup final during Subban’s first season in Nashville and have played 35 playoff games during the last two years while the Canadiens have played six, bounced in the first round by the New York Rangers two years ago.
Subban, 29, was a finalist for the Norris Trophy this season.
That’s not Weber’s fault. He has played very well with the Canadiens, but could only play 26 games last season because of an injury to his left foot that required surgery in March to repair tendons. Now add in the knee surgery. By the time Weber, who will turn 33 on Aug. 14, returns to the lineup next season, he will have gone a full calendar year without playing a game. He still has eight years remaining on his contract with an annual salary cap hit of $7.857 million.
It would be impossible to trade Weber right now, but it’s probably not impossible to trade goalie Carey Price as he enters his new eight-year, US$84-million contract. Yes, Price does have a no-trade clause, but you have to think he’s not thrilled about the prospect of playing behind a Canadiens defence without Weber again after coming off the worst season of his career in goal.
Before the news about Weber’s knee surgery I was thinking the Canadiens should try to re-sign captain Max Pacioretty, but now Bergevin should continue shopping him for young prospects and/or draft picks. Bergevin could then make Brendan Gallagher captain and start a serious rebuild like the Toronto Maple Leafs did four years ago with their “Shanaplan.”
The Canadiens already have a new slogan — “Attitude is Everything ” — and the best way to change the attitude is with new, young players.
While things definitely don’t look good right now for the Canadiens, it’s not all doom-andgloom if you focus on the future. Gallagher is only 26 and the Canadiens have nine forwards who are 25 or younger: Phillip Danault (25), Joel Armia (25), Matthew Peca (25), Charles Hudon (24), Jonathan Drouin (23), Max Domi (23), Jacob de la Rose (23), Artturi Lehkonen (23) and Nikita Scherbak (22). Defenceman Victor Mete is 20 and Noah Juulsen is 21. Goalie Charlie Lindgren is 24.
The Canadiens also had 11 picks at this year’s NHL Draft and have nine next year. They selected Jesperi Kotkaniemi with the No. 3 overall pick this year and last year took Ryan Poehling with the 25th overall pick in the first round, two players who could provide a 1-2 punch down the middle at centre.
It’s time for the Canadiens to start letting the kids play and also let them make mistakes. Tell them what they did wrong and put them right back on the ice again to gain more experience and hopefully not make the same mistakes too many times. Let them grow up together both on and off the ice as a team.
I believe Canadiens fans are ready to buy into a full rebuild after watching a bad, boring team get shut out 12 times last season and score only once in 14 other games. Wouldn’t you rather watch a young, rebuilding team open up a bit offensively and lose something like 5-3 than what you witnessed last season?
Fans would also know there is at least a solid plan in place. It might even fill some of those empty seats at the Bell Centre that grew in number last season with each loss.
The downside to a rebuild is the Canadiens would be counting on Bergevin to do it after creating this mess in the first place during his first six seasons on the job. But with four more seasons left on his contract, it doesn’t look like Bergevin is going anywhere and Canadiens fans can only hope he has learned a lot from his previous mistakes.
Jack Hughes, an American centre, is the top prospect for next year’s NHL draft and could be a game-changer.
“It’s going to be the Jack Hughes draft,” Tim Burke, the San Jose Sharks’ director of scouting, told former Canadiens player Chris Nilan last week on TSN 690 Radio. “He’s the guy that teams are going to be saying: ‘This is the guy that can change ... really change everything.’”
“Lose for Hughes” has a nice ring to it when it comes to selling a rebuild.
It’s time.
Wouldn’t you rather watch a young, rebuilding team open up a bit offensively and lose something like 5-3 than what you witnessed last season?