Are they Habs or Hab-nots?
Montreal must decide whether to keep Price and others or launch full rebuild
In the wake of the Montreal Canadiens’ loss in the first round of the NHL playoffs, the big question is: Where does the team go from here?
With a healthy Carey Price in goal and some key off-season acquisitions, this was supposed to be a season in which the Canadiens were in a position to challenge for the Stanley Cup.
Instead, it is a team that might be on the verge of a major rebuild.
The Canadiens’ hopes were built around Price and their future also revolves around the goaltender. He has one more season remaining on a contract with a cap hit of $6.5 million us, but talks on a new deal can begin on July 1 and it will be important to determine Price’s intentions as soon as possible.
Does he want to stay in Montreal? Would he more comfortable with a team that has a better chance to win in the next few years? Would he be more comfortable in a city with less pressure? Or lower taxes? Or better hunting and fishing? Or all of the above?
If Price does make a commitment, the question becomes: How much are the Canadiens willing to pay? He’ll certainly command more than he’s making now, but can he expect the $9 million a year the team gave P.K. Subban? The current highest-paid goaltender, ironically, is the Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist with a cap hit of $8.5 million.
Price’s performance in the playoffs has been questioned by some fans and the first goal Saturday fell into the one-he-wanted-back category, but he finished the playoffs with a 1.86 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage. With decent offensive support, those numbers get Montreal into the second round. But the Canadiens scored only four goals in the four losses to the Rangers.
If a Price deal isn’t sewn up before next season, it’s time to move him before he’s counting the days to free agency. A guy with Olympic and World Cup gold should command the high-end centre the Canadiens desperately need as well the other guy’s goaltender who can hold the fort until Charlie Lindgren proves he’s ready.
If a deal for Price hinges on a number of factors and I, for one, hopes he stays, there are other players with one step out the door.
I don’t know what happened to the Alex Galchenyuk, who averaged a point a game to start the season, but he was nowhere to be seen after he returned from a mid-season knee injury. The Canadiens don’t need another season of drama over whether he’s a centre or a winger, and he has some value on the market. He’s a restricted free agent and he’s not going to be happy when he doesn’t get the long-term, big-money deal only he thinks he deserves.
(One of the stranger decisions in Game 6 was coach Claude Julien’s choice of Galchenyuk to take two faceoffs after the Canadiens pulled Price for an extra attacker. Galchenyuk lost both draws and finished the night 0-for-5. In a similar situation in Game 2, Tomas Plekanec won the draw and scored the tying goal with 17 seconds remaining.
Nathan Beaulieu, a first-round draft pick in 2011, started the season on the No. 1 defence pairing with Shea Weber and, when the season ended Saturday, he was a healthy scratch. Beaulieu is confident he is a top-four defenceman, but Julien doesn’t seem to share that confidence.
Max Pacioretty is taking heat because he couldn’t put the puck in the net, but the Canadiens don’t make the playoffs without him. He’s not the only player who came short, but the expectations were greater.
It’s also time for a change in the team’s philosophy. The belief has been, as long as Price is stopping pucks, the Canadiens are a contender — but you can’t rely on one man in a team game.
The theory you can ride a goaltender to the Stanley Cup has taken a beating in these playoffs. Two of the three finalists for the Vezina Trophy — Price and Sergei Bobrovsky — are on the sidelines, and so is Devan Dubnyk, who was the first team allstar last season.
Anyone who believes the Canadiens are cleaning out their lockers Monday because Price is over-rated is dead wrong. The Canadians are looking forward to another long off-season because they couldn’t score.
GM Marc Bergevin can talk about never having enough defenceman, but the task ahead is to find two or three capable centres.