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Powerplay Quarterback
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Montreal - 12 Month Review
The Starting Point
This season started after a game 7 defeat at the hands of the Ottawa Senators in the second round of the 2005 Playoffs. It was clear to GM Beerfund, that the Habs did not have enough depth to match the top teams in the league. The shallow defense was exposed by the Ottawa offense. While the top 4 (Zubov +1, York E, Desjardins +2, Therien +1) held their own during the 7 game series. Laukkanen – 4 and Delmore –1 were victimized frequently.
The forward ranks also showed the lack of depth. A fatigued Mike Modano and Todd Bertuzzi were often paired with the weaker defense, but were still –4 each on the series. Ultimately the series came down to the Montreal top players being overworked, as they all averaged 20 minutes or more per game in the second round. Richards (25 min), Modano (24 min), StLouis (23min), Bertuzzi (21 min), Primeau (21 min), Zhamnov (20 min).
The Game Plan
Going into the 2005-06 season GM Beerfund decided there was three options. 1. Continue to ice a team that was strong on top end talent adding 3rd and 4th line players via successive trades. 2. Rebuild focusing on using top end players to increase overall team talent and wait a year for those players to develop into top end talent. 3. Build via the draft, focusing on high level picks and patiently accruing talented players.
The third option was not really an option with the average player taking 5 years to develop from a draft picks into CPHL level talent, Beerfund did not have the patience to wait half a decade to compete with the elite clubs. Option 1 was more tempting, with a decent top 6 forward corpse, and couple good d men, the potential was there to continue on the path to the championship. However, option 1 would require regular trades, moving the club forward with each transaction. The Habs had some decent young players on the farm, but not enough top level prospects to flip for CPHL talent. That left option 2.
The Process
2004/05 Final Roster Payroll 68.85M (Brad Richards RFA signed for 6.25 – up from 2.4M)
Forwards:
Mike Modano C 84 - Brad Richards LW 81 - Martin StLouis RW 82
Alexei Zhamnov C 78 - Keith Primeau LW 79 - Todd Bertuzzi RW 82
Ron Francis C 75 - Jason Wiemer LW 71 - Mikael Samuelsson RW 68
Cliff Ronning C 69 - Sergei Berezin LW 69 - Matt Davidson RW 64
Defense:
Sergei Zubov D 80 - Eric Desjardins D 75
Chris Therien D 72 - Jason York D 70
Andy Delmore D 70 - Janne Laukkanen D 69
Karl Dykhuis D 69 - Henrik Tallinder D 67GOAL:
Jose Theodore G 81
Jamie Storr G 74 Top Players in the System
Brandon Bochenski, Evan McGrath, Antti Miettinen, Justin Keller, Colby Armstrong, Kari Lehtonen, Philippe SauveThe top 6 forwards averaged 81, however with Francis and Weimer lost to Retirement and UFA respectively, the next 4 forwards averaged 67.5, and there weren’t players in the system that would be ready to step into the CPHL. On D, beyond Zubov there was a 3-4 player in Desjardins, however the rest of the players were 6-7 and below.Current Roster. Total Payroll 49.93MForwards: Alex Tanguay C 78 – Shawn Horcoff LW 71 - Alexander Frolov RW 75David Legwand C 76 - Alexei Ponikarovsky LW 73 - Jonathan Cheechoo RW 74Mike Richards C 71 - Milan Michalek LW 71 - Tuomo Ruutu RW 70Jamie Lundmark C 69 - Chuck Kobasew LW 71 - Darren McCarty 72Defense:Ed Jovanovski D 79 - Kim Johnsson D 79Mattias Ohlund D 78 - Marek Zidlicky D 74Willie Mitchell D 74 - Andrew Hutchinson D 58Goal Robert Esche 78Cam Ward 63 Top Players in the System
Fredrik Sjostrom, Evan McGrath, Justin Keller, Philippe Sauve, Brian Finley The Future Looks Bright:
The Canadiens look to make some noise in the next season. Younger players having strong NHL seasons like Cheechoo, Frolov, Tanguay, Horcoff should see their NHL success reflected in the summer rating changes. Also, player like Kobasew, Ponikarovsky and Michalek could all hit the 20 goal plateau for the first time in their young careers. Defenseman Marek Zidlicky scored 53 points in 82 games in his first NHL season 03-04, this year he is currently ranked 8th amoung NHL defensemen in points with 48 points in 65 games, summer rerates should be positively adjusted. Willie Mitchel, one of the most underated defensive dmen in the league, will finally be noticed as a member of the 2006 Stanley Cup Champions, the Dallas Stars.
While the Canadiens have taken a small step back in top end talent at forward and in goal, their overall club shows, a tremendous amount of depth and potential. Perhaps the most exciting part for Montreal fans, is the fact that the whole process freed up about 20 million dollars in payroll. This will be invested back into the club to help provide game breaking type players for the Canadiens. While there are not many top top UFAs this summer, there are a few, and GM Beerfund has targeted a small handful of potential signings. As of July 1st, Beerfund will persue those players hard, along with continued exploration of the trade market.
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