Yes, you’ve read the headline correctly. The Montreal Canadiens are winning the Stanley cup this year and there’s nothing you can do to stop it, here are 3 reasons why:
- Depth
Marc Bergevin added tremendous depth over this off-season. The additions of Josh Anderson, Tyler Toffoli, Joel Edmundson, Jake Allen, Michael Frolik & last but not least Corey Perry. Never in my life would I have imagined Perry in a Habs jersey but here we are.
The newbies have contributed to the success: Tyler Toffoli is on fire with 5 goals this season already, Josh Anderson, the player rival teams trolled all summer, is now at 4 points in 6 games, Joel Edmundson is currently leading the league in plus/minus., Corey Perry scored in his first game with the Habs and Jake Allen appears to be a very solid back-up getting 2 wins in as many starts. If you are a Montreal Canadiens fan, the excitement and our goal to #25 number is back on!
See below the analytics for the team
2. The Emergence of Young Centres
Nick Suzuki is looking like the next big thing at center. He is currently on pace for a point-per-game, which is unbelievable because young players tend to normally dip during their sophomore year (don’t ask me why, human nature). In Suzuki’s case, he’s been displaying incredible vision and defensive maturity at his age. I have no doubt in my mind that he will model his game in comparison to Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins. If you ask me, who do I prefer between Nick Suzuki & Auston Matthews, Ill say Suzuki.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi, on the other hand, has shown real improvement in contrast to last year. He keeps positioning himself to create high danger chances and his expected goal chances are always high. Since packing on some serious muscle, his skating has improved and he finishes checks. I am very glad we didn’t move him along with Cole Caufield for Pierre-Luc Dubois because I believe he will improve a lot over the next 2 years.
Jake Evans has also stepped his game up, he is becoming a great penalty kill center and contributes on offense despite his limited ice time on the 4th line. The former 7th round pick in 2014 is quickly becoming a late-round gem.
See below the analytics for these players
3. Carey Price
Some of you haters will say Price is a choker or that Price is “Swiss Cheese” but at the end of the day, he is being voted as the best goalie by his peers year after year according to the end of season polls conducted by the NHLPA. See link below
https://www.nhlpa.com/player-poll/2019-20
Not only will he have a shorter season this year, but he will also have a reliable back-up goalie for the first time since Peter Budaj! Jake Allen was a starting goaltender in the NHL for a long time before eventually losing his job to a young goalie star Jordan Binnington. Allen might not be the same as he once was, but he is more than capable of playing 20-25 games per season and delivers good results.
Carey Price will then be able to take on the heavy workload in the playoffs and will finally lift a Stanley cup above his head like he’s always deserved!
See you guys at the end of the season,
Yours truly,
Alex The Intern
Go Habs Go!
Special Thank you to Jason Paul a.k.a WaveIntel who’s graphics are super helpful!
Go check out his website: www.waveintel.org
We definitely improve over last year and can compete against the best ole ole
Petry actually leads the league in +/- at 9, but whose counting.
At the time of writing this article, it was Edmundson but you are correct, as of now it’s Petry
Yes but vs tampa or capitals( over/chara) no chance
There’s always a chance. Montreal has added some serious depth to their roster this year