Habs go hunting for a center

MONTREAL – When the 2009-10 season starts up again, it is likely the Montreal Canadiens will be the NHL team with a roster most unlike their 2008-09 version. General Manager Bob Gainey has his work cut out for him as the team has 10 unrestricted free agents (UFA) and 5 restricted free agents (RFA). It is conceivable the choices Gainey makes this offseason will not only determine how next season goes for the club, but also their fortunes for the next half decade or so. Gainey’s issues are not solely financial considerations. Due to strong cap management, it is conceivable the team could sign all 15 of the players on the list and still remain under the cap. The problems facing Gainey are which players he should keep. There are strong components of the 08-09 team on the list including UFA’s Francis Bouillon, team captain Saku Koivu, Mike Komisarek, Tom Kostopoulos, Alex Kovalev, Robert Lang, Mathieu Schneider and Alex Tanguay. Patrice Brisebois has had a love/hate relationship with the Canadiens fans for years and Mathieu Dandenault is a useful player who can alternate between forward and defense. Tomas Plekanec leads the list of RFAs; a list which includes the likes of Chris Higgins, Guillaume Latendresse and Matt D’Agostini. If Gainey were to re-sign the lot he would have a pretty good club. Montreal was playing well until Lang suffered a season-ending injury against Boston and goaltender Carey Price was banged up mid-season and never seemed to recover. But pretty good is never the answer in Montreal where the expectations each and every year is the Stanley Cup. Simply put, Gainey cannot go out and re-sign everyone and expect the masses to be happy, or to have a realistic shot at a championship. Compounding the problem is the fact that players like Kovalev and Tanguay are inconsistent and it is an open question whether or not Koivu, Komisarek, Plekanec and Higgins are guys who are capable of driving a team to a championship. Gainey could spend a lot of money and wind up exactly where he was after his club was swept by Boston with a small, inconsistent club that is not good enough to win the ultimate prize. The opinion here is Gainey has a window to completely re-make his club and he has the cap space to do it. He could go out and try to trade for Tampa Bay’s Vincent Lecavalier. This would give the passionate francophones their French-Canadien hero (once thought to be Tanguay) and give the Habs a superstar down the middle of the ice. The problem with this is, Montreal does not have a package of players available to tempt Tampa. It is more than likely that Gainey will need to dig into the free agency market with both hands in order to fill the roster. Fortunately the club is well stocked at the minor-league, junior and college levels with players such as Max Pacioretty, Yannick Weber, Matt D’Agostini, Ben Maxwell and Kyle Chipchura who are on the cusp of full-time NHL duty. Up-and-comers P.K. Subban, 2007 first rounder Ryan McDonagh, Danny Kristo, 2006 first rounder David Fischer and Steve Quailer continue on their way to the big league, but it would be a stretch to think that they are ready to star in the NHL during the 09-10 campaign. Montreal currently sits in the 17^th slot in the draft and there is the x-factor the club might try to do something to “wow” the home crowd since the draft is going to be in Montreal. However, Gainey is unlikely to crumble under the pressure to “do something” and will only make a move with a clear advantage to follow. Organizationally, the team needs size and historically have had success drafting players who are going into college hockey before entering the pros.

If they follow their needs and their previous success, there is a reason to believe that they could select Chris Kreider with their first choice. They will have to wait for Kreider, a center who prefers to play wing, will not enter Boston College until the 2010-11 season starts. Kreider does have other options since he was drafted early in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League draft, 10^th overall, by the Saint John Sea Dogs. Also, he could report to the USHL for one year to prep up for college. At 6′ 2″, 200 pounds, Kreider projects to be a big player who has been compared him to Carolina’s Eric Staal. There are some scouts who say his skating is already NHL level. All he needs to do is to play against stiffer competition in order to get better. Big, large and fast are all things the Canadiens need and those are the attributes the club could have if they were to go after Kreider with this pick in the draft. In our mock draft, this is what we think they will do come draft say, so expect to hear these words from Bob Gainey come draft day. “With the 18^th pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, the Montreal Canadiens select, from Andover High School in Boxford, Massachusetts, center Chris Kreider.” Contact the author at tom.Schettino@prohockeynews.com