HabsWorld.net --
Although the Habs were unable to sign a replacement for Thomas Vanek via
the free agent market, they did add an offensive right winger in P-A Parenteau
in late June. While he realistically can’t be expected to entirely replace
Vanek’s production, it’s safe to assume that Montreal is expecting that he will
provide more of a positive contribution to the lineup than Daniel Briere, their
big offensive acquisition last summer.
2013-14
After having a near point-per-game season in the lockout-shortened campaign,
big things were expected from Parenteau in his first full year in Colorado.
Suffice it to say, that didn’t happen. Parenteau suffered a pair of knee
injuries that cost him a total of 25 games while his style of play did not fit
in well with new coach Patrick Roy. As a result, his ice time dropped by
over two minutes per game (almost all of that being even strength play) while he
fell quite short of reaching his 2012-13 production despite playing in more
games. He was largely a non-factor in the Avs’ first round exit at the
hands of Minnesota although in his defence, he wasn’t quite 100% after just
returning from the second of his knee injuries.
Season Stats: 55 GP, 14 G, 19 A, 33 PTS, +3 rating, 30 PIMS, 1
PPG, 1 GWG, 110 shots, 16:57 ATOI
4-Year Averages
(Because of the lockout-shortened season, we are pro-rating all of
2012-13’s numbers over a typical 82-game year. Parenteau has only played
four complete NHL seasons in his career so far.)
GP: 75
Goals: 20
Assists: 36
Points: 56
+/-: -8
PIMS: 57
PPG: 6
GWG: 1
Shots: 154
2014-15 Role
Given his style, Parenteau is best suited on one of Montreal’s top two lines
and given the dearth of offensive talent at that position, he’s all but
assuredly going to be given the chance to start there. The big question
mark for Parenteau will be if he can stay in a top-six role. Head coach
Michel Therrien wasted little time bumping Briere down the lineup last season
and with the fact that there are some interchangeable options on the wing,
Parenteau could find himself in the doghouse early if he’s not playing up to
par.
With regards to special teams, he will likely see lots of playing time on the
powerplay although he may be moved up and down between the two units depending
on what his role at even strength happens to be at that time. Given that
Brendan Gallagher is the only other offensive-minded RW, Parenteau should still
get his PP time even if he is demoted in the regular lineup, just like Briere
did last year.
Projected Stats
There are a few players who could be real wildcards for this team and
Parenteau is one of them. His offensive averages from above are largely
skewed because he was playing at a near 75-point pace during the lockout season
and it’s not realistic to expect that to happen again for him (or any other Hab)
in 2014-15. I suspect he and Gallagher will flip-flop throughout the
season on the top line with Max Pacioretty and David Desharnais but where
Parenteau lands when he’s not on that unit will largely shape his overall
offensive production. If he can show that he’s decent enough defensively
to play alongside Tomas Plekanec, he’ll stay in a top-six role for the most
part. If not, he’ll find himself on the third line more often than he’d
like.
From a fantasy perspective, Parenteau doesn’t bring much to the table beyond
his offensive production; he’s not going to add many PIMS or hits while he
hasn’t had major special teams production in the last couple of seasons.
In leagues where assists are rated higher than goals (and there probably aren’t
many of those), bump him up a tad in your rankings but if the opposite holds
true (which is much more common), drop him down as it’s unlikely he’ll reach 20
goals, a plateau he has only hit once in his career. Personally, I don’t
see him showing well enough defensively to play with Plekanec which means he’ll
be on the third line at times, lowering his value and point total. Given
that he’s only a year removed from consecutive impressive offensive performances, someone is likely to
reach for him early and that’s probably a mistake. As a high-end third or
low-end second RW in your league, however, he’s a good value pick with some
upside.
GP: 78
Goals: 15
Assists: 29
Points: 44
+/-: -6
PIMS: 46
PPG: 4
GWG: 1
Shots: 132
