Sports | Abuzar Jabbar
Even after promising fans that no one in the organization was shopping Subban, Bergevin traded the Star-studded player in return for Shea Weber. In addition, this trade that shook the hockey world occurred just a couple of days following Bergevin’s remarks! Well, all this has gone by and we can’t change the past. Good trade? Not really in my opinion as Weber’s salary situation is really precarious (7.85M$ cap hit for the next 10 years). In addition, he does not have an upside on Subban when it comes to the fast skating defensive play, which the league is turning towards. However, this trade hasn’t doomed the Canadiens. Indeed, Weber brings his great leadership. He will be able to control the locker room that has had serious issues since Pacioretty was named captain. Also, this trade makes sense when looking at the Canadiens’ first round pick this summer: Mikhail Sergachev. Some may say it’s a stretch, but I won’t be surprised to see the young talent starting alongside Weber as a first pair defensemen. Actually, Weber has always been able to comply well with young rookies in his career, ranging from Ryan Ellis to Roman Josi. This pairing does make a lot of sense; with Sergachev’s complete game and Weber’s physical dominance, the duo can’t go wrong. Weber also fixes the problematic defensing pairings that were present last year. His arrival will force Michel Therrien to push Markov on the third pairing, where he will be better rested for the playoffs. Indeed, Petry has shown amazing numbers [1] while playing alongside Beaulieu, but it isn’t the same case when he is paired up with Markov. The second duo will thus comprise of Petry and Beaulieu, displaying a fast and physical young pair.
Even after promising fans that no one in the organization was shopping Subban, Bergevin traded the Star-studded player in return for Shea Weber. In addition, this trade that shook the hockey world occurred just a couple of days following Bergevin’s remarks! Well, all this has gone by and we can’t change the past. Good trade? Not really in my opinion as Weber’s salary situation is really precarious (7.85M$ cap hit for the next 10 years). In addition, he does not have an upside on Subban when it comes to the fast skating defensive play, which the league is turning towards. However, this trade hasn’t doomed the Canadiens. Indeed, Weber brings his great leadership. He will be able to control the locker room that has had serious issues since Pacioretty was named captain. Also, this trade makes sense when looking at the Canadiens’ first round pick this summer: Mikhail Sergachev. Some may say it’s a stretch, but I won’t be surprised to see the young talent starting alongside Weber as a first pair defensemen. Actually, Weber has always been able to comply well with young rookies in his career, ranging from Ryan Ellis to Roman Josi. This pairing does make a lot of sense; with Sergachev’s complete game and Weber’s physical dominance, the duo can’t go wrong. Weber also fixes the problematic defensing pairings that were present last year. His arrival will force Michel Therrien to push Markov on the third pairing, where he will be better rested for the playoffs. Indeed, Petry has shown amazing numbers [1] while playing alongside Beaulieu, but it isn’t the same case when he is paired up with Markov. The second duo will thus comprise of Petry and Beaulieu, displaying a fast and physical young pair.
Even though the Canadiens didn’t get a big NHL name for the forwards, they got the biggest name in the KHL: Alexander Radulov. He completely changes the face of the organization, ensuring to be a great first line right-winger as he has done for the past couple of years. Even if his transition doesn’t go as smooth from the KHL to the NHL, he only has one year to his contract.
The team does look suited for a great run in the next campaign, but we never know with a lot of intangibles roaming around the locker room. Is Price going to come back at his previous top-level form? Is Radulov going to adapt to the NHL style of play? How will Weber play? Will Sergachev play? Are we going to suffer another tough injury? How will Michel Therrien manage some players’ minutes like Galchenyuk and Markov? So many questions surround this upcoming year and they can only be answered through the gritty 82 game season coming-up ahead.
[1]
Pairing
|
ES TOI
|
CF%
|
SF/60
|
SA/60
|
SF%
|
GF/60
|
GA/60
|
GF%
|
OZS%
|
Petry-Emelin
|
469.13
|
54.28%
|
30.44
|
26.22
|
53.72%
|
1.28
|
2.43
|
34.48%
|
29.18%
|
Petry-Beaulieu
|
189.55
|
58.11%
|
31.97
|
23.74
|
57.39%
|
2.22
|
2.22
|
50%
|
32.12%
|
Petry-Markov
|
99.39
|
49.20%
|
26.56
|
35.62
|
42.72%
|
1.21
|
1.21
|
50%
|
33.93%
|
No comments:
Post a Comment