Here are three reasons to look forward to the Montreal Canadiens' upcoming season
Typically, when a team reaches the Stanley Cup Final the following season, great things are expected of them. However, people might not have high expectations for the Canadiens, despite the acquisitions of Hoffman, Savard, Paquette, Perreault and Wideman. The Montreal team lost big pieces in Shea Weber (long-term injury), Phillip Danault and Tomas Tatar, so many skeptics believe that the Habs will not repeat last year's success. There's no guarantee of success, but there's plenty to build on.
More mobile defense:
Last year, the Montreal Canadiens were not known as a powerhouse in terms of supporting the offense. Chiarot, Weber, Kulak and Edmundson have a lot of quality, but supporting the offense is not their main focus. This year, the Canadiens will have the luxury of having a good defenseman, capable of doing so, on each pairing, assuming Chris Wideman is in the starting six. Romanov, Petry and Wideman will likely be responsible for supporting the offense, considering their pairing partners are labeled as defensive defensemen. Romanov is likely to play with Savard, Edmundson and Petry are inseparable and we have the latter two in Chiarot and Wideman. This would be a much more mobile defense than usual that would show up every night in a Montreal Canadiens uniform, which is very encouraging.
A much faster offense:
With the departures of Corey Perry and Eric Staal, and the return to play of Jonathan Drouin, the Habs will have a much faster offense than what we saw in the playoffs. Toffoli, Suzuki and Armia don't have rockets on their feet, but they are capable of providing more speed than Perry or Staal. The rest of the forwards, including Anderson, Gallagher, Perreault, Evans, Caufield and company, will give other teams headaches, mostly in check up front. Montreal will have a more than interesting top 9 forward line, come to think of it.
Big things in store for Ryan Poehling:
Who will be the Canadiens' vaunted third center this year? The names of Ryan Poehling and Jake Evans have been bandied about. It wouldn't be surprising if Poehling had a great training camp and carved out a spot as the number three driver. Poehling is coming off a great season with the Laval Rocket, despite a wrist injury that has bothered him all season. There is no doubt that he will be hungry to make a good impression. Poehling has the perfect profile of a third center because of his versatility, he has an interesting offensive potential. Generally, a third center should produce 25-35 points per season, sometimes more in some cases. Poehling might be able to do that, if he has considerable offensive wingers. You could inevitably see him alongside Hoffman, Drouin, Gallagher or even Anderson. It would be quite a luxury to have such good wingers in his first full NHL season.
What are your expectations for the 2021-2022 season?
