Mayday! Mayday! Le bilan des Canadiens de Montréal 2021-22

Here's our National Sports Editor, Poor Len Canayen, with his wrap-up on our favourite team. On Friday, the Habs finished the regular season -- no playoffs this year! -- by beating the Florida Panthers like a gong, 10-2, in front of a surprised crowd at the Bell Centre. But that doesn't tell the tale of the season, does it, Len?

Tank youse, Hed. No, it doesn't. The story of the 2021-22 Canadiens can be summed up in the first two words of the headline, which should read "M'aidez! M'aidez!" [Help me! Help me! Ed.] The Tricolore had the worst season that I can remember, all the way back to 1939-40, finishing dead last in the 32-team NHL. So my year-end report will focus on those to whom we say "au revoir" -- see you in the fall -- rather than "adieu" -- goodbye, thanks for coming out.

Skaters first. The top two point-scorers were Nick Suzuki with 61 in 82 games (the only Hab to play in every game) and Cole "Goal" Caufield with 43 in 67. Caufield actually had two more goals than Suzuki, 23 to 21. He didn't get much ice time until the coaching change, than came spectacularly alive. Put him down as the next superstar! Both Suzuki and Caufield need to work on the defensive side of their games.

Third and fourth in points production were Mike Hoffman and Christian Dvorak, two of the "expendables" acquired by Marc Bergevin in desperation last summer. Hoffman seems to have difficulty seeing other teammates, and has a habit of making blind passes. Dvorak had the best percentage of faceoff wins but often figured his work was done after that. My advice to GM Kent Hughes: trade `em for whatever you can get.

With the departure of Tyler Toffoli (traded to Calgary -- miss ya!), Josh Anderson is the remaining half of the dynamic duo who powered the 2020-21 Stanley Cup finalists. I can't figure him out. He's got the size and the strength. He's got speed and grit. But too often his charges up the wing result in... nothing. He needs the right linemates, but is definitely a keeper.

The future of centre Jake Evans is cloudy. He played in 72 games and had a decent record: 29 points, 49.8% at the dot, and only -5 which was a decent plus/minus number of this year's team. But he doesn't get much notice. He's not one of those high-power guys who make the other team cringe when he's on the ice. Worth keeping as a third- or fourth-line centre, I suppose. 

We come now to two defencemen, both of whom scored 27 points. It was widely reported that Jeff Petry was unhappy in Montréal and wanted to be traded to somewhere closer to his Detroit home. Then came the replacement of head coach Dominic Ducharme. With Martin St-Louis behind the bench (kudos to him!), Petry started to play like the "horse" he was the previous year. Hope he stays! Chris Wideman is another of the "expendables", who was touted as a good "general" on the power play. Fine, but his plus/minus was -25. Not good enough. Don't come back.

Two cousins named Pitlick were acquired during the season. Rem Pitlick, ex Minnesota, turned out to be a pleasant surprise, a good linemate to Suzuki and Caufield. Let's see more of him next year. Cousin Tyler Pitlick, ex Calgary, came late in the season, and was used sparingly. He might benefit from some time in Laval. Hard to say.

Now we must take a hard look at two hard cases. A couple of years ago, Brendan Gallagher and Jonathan  Drouin were considered stars, so much so that they featured in TV commercials. This year? Well... For the second season in a row, Drouin sat out the last eight weeks or so. He was on the LTIR, but it's hard to figure out what's really wrong. Looks to me like he's snakebit, and if that's the case, it's time to hang up the skates.

Brendan Gallagher is a different, but still difficult case. He wants to play. He's got enough heart and competitiveness for two guys. But years of taking a pounding in the corners and at his post in front of the opponents' net have taken their toll. He played in 56 games, amassing 7 goals and 17 assists, with a -7 plus/minus. He's still the heart and soul of les Glorieux, but not a top-6 guy anymore. Still, we fans would never forgive management for trading him.

Ryan Poehling was brought up from the AHL Laval Rocket in the hope that he would rise above mediocrity. He didn't. In spite of being used, on average, a slight 12:12 in the 57 games he played in, he had a plus/minus of -21. Back to Laval with yez, Ryan.

You might forgive Poehling's -21 because, hey, he's a centre, but the same cannot be said of D-man David Savard's -22. Savard was obtained to help a defence weakened by the loss of Shea Weber (who looks unlikely to return), the absence until late in the season of Jeff Edmundson, and the February trades of Ben Chiarot and Brett Kulak, all of whom are much missed. Unfortunately, Savard's best days are behind him. 

The news from the defence corps isn't all bad. One he returned, Jeff Edmundson played just as well as he did last year. He played in 24 games and was only -1. There is talk, now, of his being named captain when Shea Weber is traded or (more likely) retires.      

Alexandre Romanov gets our award for Most Improved Player, and deserves to be a top-four defenceman next year. He needs more confidence to push the attack when needed, and during the summer should take hip-check lessons from Alexei Emelin back home in Russia.(Ya gotta lead them just right!) Au revoir, Alex!

Also welcome back will be forwards Paul Byron and Joel Armia. Both, particularly Byron, had injury problems this year, and neither is going to win many games all by himself, but both are good players in support roles, useful parts of a complete team.

[Ahem. You're running out of space. Are you going to say something about every one of the 40 skaters who played for the Habs in at least one game? Ed.] No. There are many who I won't be discussing, either because I want to forget about them (Hello, Cale Clague!) or because I didn't see enough of them to have an opinion. Like Jordan Harris (D) who joined the team in April, and in 10 games scored one goal (in Friday's win over Florida) and went +3.

Let's wrap this up then, by talking about goalies. Six goaltenders played for the Canadiens in at least one game. The best, according to the stats, was Andrew Hammond, "the Hamburglar", with a GAA of 2.40 and save pct of .920 in just 4 games. He was brought out of semi-retirement when the Habs' top three goalies were injured or shell-shocked, and then traded to New Jersey. Who knows why. 

The top three, in order of games played, were Samuel Montembault (38), Jake Allen (35) and Carey Price (5). Allen had the best save pct, at .905. Montembault was .891, Price 878. The numbers for AHL-ers Cayden Primean and Michael McNiven, called up in emergencies, were worse. To be fair, all the goalies didn't get much goal support (average goals for = 2.695), and played behind a porous defence, having to face >40 shots in many games.

Watching Carey Price on Friday, I could see that although he turned aside 37 or 39 shots, his knee still isn't right. He is going to have to decide, this summer, whether to have more surgery or call it quits. That, plus his hefty contract, makes Price an unlikely candidate to be traded. I fear we will have to say ave atque vale.

Jake Allen, who hoped to be 1B after Price's 1A, will likely move up to 1A next season. This year, though, he suffered from a nasty groin pull... twice... and will need a dependable backup. At mid-season I'd have said that would not be Sam Montembault, but the kid has survived his baptism of fire, gaining in confidence and technique. I'd say he deserves at least one year more. Good luck to the bother of them.

Finally, kudos  to "interim" head coach Martin St-Louis, who turned things around to make the Habs competitive and fun to watch for the last couple of months of a terrible season. Good luck to him, and to them, in 2022-23.