A journalist put his finger on the problem in the Habs formation
What exactly is wrong with the Montreal Canadiens lineup? The team is so disappointing compared to what they showed us last spring, that it's hard to point to one particular boo-boo.
However, reporter Brian Wilde has found one BIG problem that has never been addressed since Andrei Markov left. The former quarterback has effectively never been replaced since his departure in 2017.
Rather than trying to find a player similar to the Russian, Marc Bergevin has instead turned to defensive-minded players to fill the void, such as Ben Chiarot and Joel Edmundson, or to a lesser extent, Karl Alzner.
So the only defensemen with a Markov-like style of play that have made the team are either young, inexperienced guys like Alexander Romanov, Sami Niku and Mattias Norlinder, or nebbish veterans like Erik Gustafsson and David Schlemko.
Again and again the same observation.
Without wanting to twist the knife, it is important to mention that Marc Bergevin has indeed already got his hands on a player worthy of succeeding the former number 79. This player, named Mikhail Sergachev, was traded before he even had a chance to play in the big league...
Among the current prospects of the organization, only Jordan Harris and Kaiden Guhle seem to have a high enough potential to occupy this kind of role in the medium or long term. The first one is not guaranteed to sign a contract with the organization, while the second one is closer to a modern version of Shea Weber than a new Andrei Markov.
With the last year of his contract now up, Marc Bergevin has a good chance of ending his mandate without having succeeded in adapting his defense to the modern NHL, which would be a huge failure...
