Montreal has shown the ability to put the puck in the net and players like Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Lane Hutson taking a leadership role in that area. Head coach Martin St. Louis has to have confidence in his team’s ability to create scoring opportunities and put the puck in the net.
The Canadiens play a pleasing and fan-friendly style that has resulted in several explosive and winning nights at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
Suzuki has a chance to become a star as the center on the team’s top line for many years. He has scored 15 goals and 36 assists in the team’s first 51 games and he also has a plus-6 rating. He is averaging 19:32 of ice time per game and he is connecting on 14.6 percent of his shots.
In addition to the numbers, Suzuki has an understanding of what it takes to score at key moments and set up his teammates for outstanding opportunities. There is a certain confidence when Suzuki has the puck on his stick in the offensive zone.
Caufield is clearly coming into his own as well. He has a wicked shot and has found the back of the net 25 times and also added 22 assists.
Hutson is a talented defenseman, but the Canadiens need help at that position
Hutson has been a tremendous addition on the blue line. The 20-year-old rookie has found the back of the net 3 times and has added 36 assists. Hutson is not a defensive stalwart at this point in his career, but he has shown offensive skills for the Canadiens and instincts that should allow him to become one of the most impactful defensemen in the league.
But when it comes to stopping opponents and making impactful plays in their own zone, the Canadiens are clearly lacking. They are allowing 3.35 goals per game and that ranks 27th in the league. This is an area that Montreal general manager Kent Hughes is going to have to look to improve in the short term and in the foreseeable future.
One of the key defensemen that Hughes needs to be looking at is Rasmus Ristolainen of the Philadelphia Flyers. The 30-year-old Finnish defenseman has 12 years of NHL experience — 8 years with the Buffalo Sabres and 4 years with the Flyers. He also has the kind of size at 6-4 and 208 pounds that can help the Canadiens deliver a more physical presence than they have had in recent seasons.
Ristolainen is clearly a defensive defenseman as he has never scored more than 9 goals in a season. He has not reached that level since the 2015-16 season. Ristolaninen has 2 goals and 13 assists for the Flyers this season, but he is also plus-3 on a team that is out of the playoff structure.
Flyers have already made a key trade
The Flyers have already traded forwards Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost to the Calgary Flames, so it’s clear that they will trade established players this season if they can make a favorable deal.
The Canadiens also could have been looking at Marcus Pettersson of the Pittsburgh Penguins, but that possibility came off the board last week. Pittsburgh traded Pettersson and Drew O’Connor to the Vancouver Canucks.
If the Canadiens can’t make a deal for Ristolainen or decide that he is not the ideal blue liner for their system, they may want to look at Ivan Provorov of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Provorov is an outstanding defenseman who has helped the Blue Jackets on a consistent basis this season. While the Blue Jackets are contending for a playoff spot, they may want to move Provorov because he is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent in the offseason.