A GM usually proceeds in stages to revive a broken club. He will first recall one or two players from the minors. If that doesn’t work, he can then proceed with an exchange. As a last resort, he will fire his trainer.
Posted on February 23, 2021 at 12:30 p.m.
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The Canadiens have won just one of their last five games, two of their last seven. Now is the time for worry, but not yet for panic. A victory Tuesday night in Ottawa, before the two games in Winnipeg, could help regain some momentum.
Marc Bergevin was an attentive spectator at the Rocket game on Monday night at the Bell Center. The Canadiens’ GM hasn’t missed many Rocket games this winter. Obviously, one should not draw hasty conclusions. The club-school plays its games a stone’s throw from home and the general manager of CH would be frowned upon to watch a movie on Netflix or order sushi at home while aspirants for a possible position in Montreal s’ fencing on the ice.
And anyway, there is no Savior at the Rocket right now. By far the team’s best prospect, Cayden Primeau, wears pads, and the Canadiens have two healthy goalies in Montreal.
The best long-term hopefuls will need time. Kaiden Guhle, 19 last month, did not miss his baptism among professionals on Monday. Not intimidated by his surroundings, this young colossus of 6 feet 2 inches even allowed himself some solid checks. The Canadian’s first choice, 16e in total, in 2020, has impressive defensive instincts, despite only training with the Rocket beforehand. His staff is still hanging around in the right place. It is very mobile for a player of his size.
PHOTO DAVID BOILY, THE PRESS
Kaiden Guhle and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard
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The type of left-handed defenseman who could play in the NHL for fifteen years against the opposing top lines. But he will need time to perfect his learning and he should join his junior club shortly. Let’s give it at least two years.
His two biggest fans are the last two to have led him: André Tourigny at the World Junior Championship and Joël Bouchard with the Rocket. It says a lot.
Jesse Ylonen, 2018 second-round pick, at 35e rank, three rows before Alexander Romanov, has an undeniable offensive flair. His creativity allows him to perform plays that few of his teammates at the Rocket can perform.
After five games, the 6-1 / 2-inch right winger has four assists. Unfortunately for him, his only professional goal was scored against his own team on Monday, but bad luck can happen to the best.
Despite his talent, 21-year-old Ylonen also needs time. He is still a little frail and has to adapt to the rigors of North American hockey.
The Rocket’s best forward since the start of the season is well known to Canadiens fans. He spent the last year and a half in Montreal. Instead of feeling sorry for himself after his dismissal, Jordan Weal chose to play with all the relentlessness that we know him. But is he superior to Paul Byron or to Artturi Lehkonen? To ask the question, is to answer it. The young veteran Laurent Dauphin, obtained in return from Michael McCarron last year, is another leader on offense.
Ryan Poehling? Correct. He increased his offensive production. He has three points after four games. He is responsible defensively. Obviously, one would expect more from a first-round pick named World Junior Championship MVP, but can he really give more? In the best-case scenario, 22-year-old Poehling will be a good third-line player in the NHL. But that, we were already beginning to suspect.
PHOTO BERNARD BRAULT, LAPRESSE
Ryan Poehling
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Right now, another beefy center, 25-year-old Lukas Vejdemo, a 2015 third-round pick, briefly recalled to Montreal last year, is giving more. He has four points in as many games. But Vejdemo has a profile that is closer to Jacob De La Rose than to Jesperi Kotkaniemi. On Monday night, he missed at least four unique chances to score.
A second-round pick in 2020, Jan Mysak, still 18, looked much better in his second game. It’s a great long-term project.
Drafted in the seventh round in 2019, Rafaël Harvey-Pinard is undoubtedly the biggest surprise for the Rocket since the start of the season. The 5-foot-9-inch young man has plenty of enthusiasm. His trainer uses it in all situations and in an attacking trio. Harvey-Pinard has three goals in five games. We will have to think about offering him a National League contract soon. The doors of the NHL could open to him in the coming years in a supporting role.
In defense, without fanfare, the Finnish Otto Leskinen remains the most improved player. Day and night with last year. Leskinen, 24, hired as a free agent in 2019, did well in the Finland Elite League this fall with 10 points in 17 games, and he’s been showing a lot of poise at the Rocket since the start of the season. He is a candidate for a possible recall in case of injury.
PHOTO BERNARD BRAULT, THE PRESS
Otto Leskinen
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An advocate out of nowhere, with a name out of nowhere, Corey Shueneman, 25, begins to intrigue the organization. The former Western Michigan, NCAA captain, never drafted, signed an American League contract with the Rocket this summer after a season with the Calgary Flames school club. He scored his second goal of the season on Monday. He is arguably the most fluid and offensive skater in the club. Joël Bouchard praised it to us from day one.
Josh Brook and Cale Fleury, two right-handed defenders, were not playing on Monday. Fleury is obviously closer to an encore.
So that’s the overall picture in Laval. The best hopes of the organization are already in Montreal: Nick Suzuki, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Alexander Romanov. The biggest potential in Laval is called Cayden Primeau and there is no rush. Kaiden Guhle, Jesse Ylonen and Jan Mysak seem doomed to a bright future but we will not see it in Montreal in the near future.
We will undoubtedly even be able to see the hopes outside Quebec before them, like Cole Caufield, 20, 37 points including 19 goals in 24 games in Wisconsin. He will undoubtedly sign a contract with the Montreal organization at the end of his season in the NCAA, in late March, early April. If the CH continues to play so poorly in power play, we could see it in the uniform of the Canadian before that of the Rocket.
Left-handed defender Jordan Harris, also 20, also seems close to signing his first professional contract. He has 16 points in 15 games at Northeastern. Due to the strength in defense in Montreal, he could join the Rocket in March or April.
Mattias Norlinder, Sean Farrell, Luke Tuch and Jayden Struble are having a good season, but we’ll have to wait another year or two for them.
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