To be honest, i wasn't totally surprised how much they sank once Carey Price went down. I have been saying on this board for the past two years that they were basically a one-man team whose record was nothing but a mirage caused by Carey Price's heroics. People mocked me for saying this, but i was 100% serious. Last season, i even told people that the only difference between the Leafs and the habs was Carey Price. They chuckled again.
What i saw was too many players overrated and whose faults were masked by the goalie's brilliance. For one, i was never that impressed with PK Subban. Sure, he's flamboyant and has a big shot. But unlike most habs fans, i follow other teams also. If you'd ask me to pick 10 defencemen to play on my team, there'd be no room for Subban. One day i named 10 more players before i got to Subban's name. Speaking from an outsider's perspective, i also see him as a disruptive influence around the team. Were i a fellow player having to play next to a loudmouth like him who craves the media's attention constantly, i'd either ask for a trade for fear of snapping one day and clocking him one (or two). As for his big shot, it rarely hits the net anymore and once again he leads the league in giving up the puck. He's the King of Giveaways! And no one comes close to him! And on top of that, he throws other players and even his equipment staff under the bus instead of accepting blame for his boneheaded choices which often lead to goals. And this season, he's been exposed as being a very selfish player for reasons i've mentioned.
Galchenyuk has been very hot lately. Over the past couple of weeks, he's become one of the league's top snipers. However, is it because there is no more pressure to perform since the habs are literally out of the playoffs?? Will he be able to maintain the pace (i seriously doubt it) next season when the games will mean something?
One of the local sports talkshows joked yesterday that every time Galchenyuk scores a goal, Marc Bergevin's beard is getting whiter. Galchenyuk scoring goals means a big pay day in the near future and the habs don't have much cap space considering they're already paying Subban $9 million per season, plus the fact Carey Price and Max Pacioretty will become UFA in a couple of years where both will be expecting a raise. In Price's case, he'll be expecting to be the highest paid player on the team (and possibly throughout the league) and now he's got the amunition to back him up.
Lately, injuries have led to several players from the minors being called up. But most of them are not even expected to make the big team next season. There's not even a guarantee that Sven Andrigetto will start the season in Montreal. What we've seen lately is that there are too many games where he's invisible on the ice. Plus he's small and he'd be better suited to play on the 3rd or 4th lines. However, other than Pacioretty and Galchenyuk, most of the forwards on that team are in reality 3rd and 4th liners. Which means that if the team acquires a couple of bonafide first and second liners during the off-season, there may not be any room for Sven. Many expect Desharnais to play somewhere else next season, but trading him away will be next to impossible. Plus, Michel Therrien loves him and i guarantee that he'll still be coaching next season. Same goes for Plekanec. Therrien loves him. Markov? Therrien loves him, he has a no-movement clause, and he's still one of Mtl's best defencemen.
