ROCK BOTTOM

Charlie Schmeidchen

The 2021-22 NHL season has been one to remember. Many players and teams have had great seasons, including players such as Auston Matthews potting 60 goals in a season for the first time in his career and being the first Maple Leaf to do so. In fact, goal scoring in the NHL is up this year, with a league average of 3.14 goals-per-game-the highest in almost 30 years.

Another record was set by the Montreal Canadiens this year, however it wasn’t exactly one to be proud of. After clinching 32nd place in the league on April 27th, the Habs became the first team in NHL history to follow up a berth in the Stanley Cup Final with a dead last finish the next season. For the Habs, while they have had bad seasons in the past, this experience is something new for the entire fanbase, as the last time Montreal finished with the worst record overall came in 1940. For context, the previous low for this franchise came forty-five years before Shea Weber- the oldest member of the team- was even born. A pretty impressive run for the storied franchise, but that’s not the point.

This has been a historically bad season for the red, white and blue. It’s hard to blame the players though, as they’re all just doing their best and making the most out of this poor situation. The real problem was the way the team was put together in the first place. Compiling mediocre French-Canadian players without any real superstars, giving an eighth of their salary cap to their goalie, Hiring Dominique Ducharme full-time, and only hiring front office members who can speak French. The whole team was doomed from the start.

Some people call last year’s cup run a fluke. Some say it was legitimate and that the Canadiens were built for the playoffs. Call it what you want, it’s over, and a large portion of last year’s team is gone, with the Canadiens embracing the said rebuild they find themselves in. For Montreal this year, although they were riddled with injuries and missing their top goalie and defenseman, it wouldn’t have made much of a difference. The Habs were missing the playoffs this year, no matter what. And after this season’s performance, it’s safe to say that the Habs have officially hit rock bottom.

There’s always a positive side to things, and for the Habs and their fans, the upside here is that there’s nowhere to go but up. They started smart, by cleaning out their management and much of their coaching staff. With the tag team of Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes in their front office, as well as the likelihood of Martin St. Louis returning as full-time coach next season, things are looking promising for this organization.

Next comes the players. While the Canadiens had little to no cap space at the start of this season, after a relatively successful trade deadline and a good chance of Shea Weber’s big contract being traded this offseason, Gorton and Hughes will have some room to work with going forward.

The Canadiens have a pretty strong prospect pool at the moment, with lots of young defensemen like Kaiden Guhle and Mattias Norlinder, all looking to make the NHL jump. As for their forwards, the duo of Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield is something that Habs fans can happily look forward to watching for a long time. The number of exciting prospects for the Canadiens goes on and on, with both promising young forward and defensive prospects on the list. However there is one key factor that will hopefully play a big role in the team’s future. The upcoming draft.

With 14 picks in the 2022 NHL draft, the Montreal Canadiens are looking to make a splash. With 7 of their picks this year in the first three rounds, it is likely that Montreal will be able to pick up some solid young talent. Especially, because after this year’s horrific performance, they managed to secure a top 3 draft pick, with the NHL’s best odds at the #1 overall pick. This doesn’t mean they’ll win the draft lottery, but with great players like Shane Wright, Juraj Slafkovsky, Logan Cooley and Šimon Nemec to choose from, the Habs are feeling pretty comfortable.

In the past, many mistakes have been made regarding prospect drafting and development when it comes to Montreal. The lack of any prospect development program for too long and the controversial drafting of Logan Mailloux last year are just a few examples of this ongoing problem throughout the front office.

Looking to the future however, throwing out the old ways of doing things and adding a fresh front office are going to be the keys to a good rebuild for Montreal, and who knows, maybe they’ll find themselves back in the playoffs in a few years.