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The Habs recently passed the three-quarter mark of the season and find themselves squarely in the mix for a playoff spot, thanks in large part to some key contributions from their forwards. We wrap up our writer grades with a look at those forwards.
Nick Suzuki: Writer Vote Average: 9.2
Suzuki has been a model of consistency this entire season – which is a big improvement over previous seasons where he often started the year a little less productive, especially at even strength. He’s now producing over a point per game and being a positive plus/minus, demonstrating that when he is on the ice, the team is better off in all situations. If management could address the huge, glaring gap in centres behind Suzuki, this team and Suzuki would be so much better!
Stats: 20 GP, 6 goals, 17 assists, 23 points, +3 rating, 2 PIMS, 42 shots, 19:36 ATOI
Cole Caufield: Writer Vote Average: 8.4
Caufield’s shooting percentage has dropped from 25% in the first quarter of the season down to 12.5%, which is still very good but is a more sustainable rate. He is leading the team and in the top 10 in the NHL for shots on net. These two make a lethal combination and as a result, Caufield is on pace for a 41-goal season, which would blow away his previous career high of 28. And he does it all with a positive plus/minus which indicates he’s being responsible in his own and has avoided some of the giveaways and poor play which affected the team in the past. All in all, a great season so far from Caufield.
Stats: 20 GP, 7 goals, 8 assists, 15 points, even rating, 0 PIMS, 56 shots, 17:49 ATOI
Juraj Slafkovsky: Writer Vote Average: 6.8
If you just looked at the stats, Slafkovsky has been consistent all year scoring 0.65, 0.57, and 0.6 points per game in Q1, Q2, and Q3. But in reality, Slafkovsky came alive in Q3 as he’s becoming a driver in the play, making his presence felt rather than just being the recipient of someone else’s plays. His confidence is growing which will only bring better results. He definitely needs to shoot the puck more, but this will come with confidence.
Stats: 20 GP, 7 goals, 5 assists, 12 points, +3 rating, 13 PIMS, 39 shots, 17:14 ATOI
Jake Evans: Writer Vote Average 6.8
Evans started off the season with a scorching hot shooting percentage (+20% in Q1, +35% in Q2), but he came down to a still respectable 8.7% in Q3. Still, that’s fantastic production from your fourth line centre in addition to all the other things he does along with Armia. If that’s not enough, Evans carries a 53% winning percentage in the faceoff dot which is another feather in his cap. Happy to see Evans sign a reasonable contract and will hopefully be a fixture in the lineup for the next few years.
Stats: 20 GP, 2 goals, 3 assists, 5 points, -6 rating, 2 PIMS, 23 shots, 15:24 ATOI
Patrik Laine: Writer Vote Average: 6.6
Laine has been absolute gold on the power play, as he led the team with 13 goals at the three-quarter mark despite missing +30 games. At even strength, it’s a different story where he’s played with horrendous linemates and battled his own mental demons which resulted in lacklustre efforts and results. Management needs to address the second line urgently if the Canadiens want to compete. And Martin St. Louis needs to become some sort of psychologist or Laine whisperer to be able to keep him out of his own way. Maybe try sitting Laine beside Gallagher in the dressing room and hoping the attitude is contagious?
Stats: 20 GP, 6 goals, 8 assists, 14 points, -5 rating, 6 PIMS, 38 shots, 14:22 ATOI
Brendan Gallagher: Writer Vote Average: 6.4
Gallagher is the third-best goal producer among forwards for the Habs this season. As usual, he boasts a respectable 53% Corsi rating despite playing with Dvorak (42% Corsi) and Anderson (41% Corsi). His energy and drive are relentless but despite clearly outplaying and out-producing most other forwards in the lineup, Gallagher is seeing his minutes decrease (down to 13:28/game at the end of the quarter). Normally, when an entire second line is struggling, a coach will give better-performing players a chance. This hasn’t happened for Gallagher and he remains stuck carrying the third line with diminishing minutes.
Stats: 20 GP, 5 goals, 3 assists, 8 points, -8 rating, 8 PIMS, 44 shots, 13:28 ATOI
Josh Anderson: Writer Vote Average 6.4
Anderson did not have a strong Q3 but at least he’s already scored more points than his miserable season last year. But the bar is low. He is still playing hard and is contributing with strong penalty killing, but not having much success on the scoresheet. Given his salary the Habs should expect more from Anderson.
Stats: 20 GP, 3 goals, 1 assist, 4 points, -5 rating, 14 PIMS, 30 shots, 14:06 ATOI
Alex Newhook: Writer Vote Average: 6.2
Newhook started the season with only nine points in his first 40 games while being a defensive liability to the team. Despite playing on the second line all season, he didn’t get an assist until the 35th game. Yet somehow he managed to avoid being sent down to the minors (joking… err kinda) or even demoted from the second line. In Q3, he responded with better efforts in games and used his speed to push back the defence which resulted in much better production. Due to the Dach injury, he’s now slotting into the second-line centre position, which shows just how ridiculous this second line has become. This isn’t Newhook’s fault, but there’s just no way someone with 0.3 pts/game and only nine assists on the season should be playing that role on a team that says it wants to make the playoffs.
Stats: 20 GP, 5 goals, 7 assists, 12 points, +1 rating, 8 PIMS, 30 shots, 15:32 ATOI
Joel Armia: Writer Vote Average 5.8
Armia is having a good season and, combined with Evans, is providing perhaps the best fourth line in the NHL. They were producing, killing penalties, and often playing against other teams’ top lines. They are the most-used line to start shifts in the defensive zone. Playing 2:24 minutes per game on the penalty kill, Armia is a big reason why the Habs ranked in the top ten overall in penalty kills at the end of the quarter. As the season has progressed, St. Louis has come to rely on this line significantly, probably more so than most NHL teams.
Stats: 20 GP, 3 goals, 2 assists, 5 points, -5 rating, 0 PIMS, 30 shots, 14:33 ATOI
Owen Beck: Writer Vote Average 5.6
As a call-up, Beck played mostly on the wing in very limited action. At times, he looked out of place which is probably to be expected given he wasn’t playing in his usual position. He had a nice assist in San Jose where he took a big hit in the corner but kept his head up to pass the puck out front to score a big goal. Just the first steps for Beck but I’d expect to see more of him in the future.
Stats: 10 GP, 0 goals, 1 assist, 1 point, -1 rating, 0 PIMS, 10 shots, 9:57 ATOI
Emil Heineman: Writer Vote Average 5.6
Coming back from an off-ice injury, Heineman has struggled to pick up where he was after missing 15 games. Still, he’s had a strong debut with 17 points in 51 games, placing him 15th overall in rookie scoring.
Stats: 6 GP, 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 points, -3 rating, 2 PIMS, 4 shots, 13:00 ATOI
Kirby Dach: Writer Vote Average: 5.0
While Dach did have a momentary spurt of playing reasonable hockey, he came crashing back down to earth before he got injured again for the season. Hopefully, Kent Hughes has realized by now, after three failed seasons, that Dach is not going to be the second-line centre of the future. Before the injury, he was on pace for around 30 points (in line with his career average) and was among the worst plus/minus players in the NHL (-29). That’s hardly a resume for a second-line centre on a playoff team. But for some reason, management just keeps slotting him into this position. At this point, the failure isn’t Dach’s anymore, it’s now owned by management.
Stats: 16 GP, 4 goals, 4 assists, 8 points, -5 rating, 10 PIMS, 20 shots, 15:03 ATOI
Christian Dvorak: Writer Vote Average: 4.8
The only good thing to say about Dvorak was his strong faceoff winning percentage (56.2%). He has held his own on the third line but for the role he was supposed to originally fill after being acquired, he hasn’t produced anywhere near enough to live up to that.
Stats: 20 GP, 3 goals, 5 assists, 8 points, -7 rating, 6 PIMS, 30 shots, 15:56 ATOI
Michael Pezzetta: Writer Vote Average 4.0
When he’s not scratched, Pezzetta is getting more ice time in the warm-up than he does during games. It is going to be tough for him to have any impact. If St. Louis doesn’t trust him to play him more, it is better for everyone to let Pezzetta find another team in the offseason.
Stats: 7 GP, 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 points, -2 rating, 4 PIMS, 3 shots, 4:48 ATOI
