Do the Montreal Canadiens have a bad pattern with their young players?
PUBLICATION
Jeff DrouinAugust 6, 2021 (10:10)
Marc Bergevin does a colossal job as the Montreal Canadiens' general manager, collecting draft picks and making the right moves in the off-season. Yes, he has made mistakes, but the good moves far outnumber the bad ones. That being said, on the subject of draft picks, is it really necessary to have so many if they end up not being brought in with the team? We're talking...
One of the best examples, Ryan Poehling. He progressed last year with the Laval Rocket, but he still doesn't have the chance to prove it in the big league since they signed Cedric Paquette to fill out the 4th center role. Another example is Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who has a chance to become the second center job for the upcoming campaign, but may not get it as Bergevin is looking for an asset to replace Phillip Danault.
You can even add Alexander Romanov, who has been left out of the playoffs more often than not at the expense of Erik Gustafsson or Jon Merrill.
From there, a Montreal Canadiens fan, via Twitter, slightly outraged against the organization, indicating that it did not leave room for its talented young players. "Stock Guy," the fan in question, dropped this statement, "The Habs don't need to go out and get a center that will take away opportunities from a youngster, they need to give opportunities to their own young players."
Here's another comment from "Stock Guy" on the subject:
"For Habs fans, what's the point of having a large pool of NHL prospects and young players if every time a position needs to be filled, the reaction is to go out and acquire a player from another team because the kid is "not ready"? Josi at 21 was not Josi at 25. Scheifele at 21 was not Scheifele at 25. Ditto for Krejci. Ditto for Point. Ditto for Marchand. Ditto for Keith. Ditto for the Sedins!"
Is he totally right about this? Personally, I am unable to agree with him entirely. Nick Suzuki had a LOT of room as a 20-year-old, and then as a 21-year-old, he became the number one center on the team. Cole Caufield, on the other hand, got his spot as soon as he finished his NCAA season and after two games in the stands heading into the playoffs, he was given a starring role right out of the gate and he was only 20.
Suzuki and Caufield are rare talents and will become stars with the Montreal Canadiens. The team has given all the space to these two youngsters of 21 and 20 years old respectively, so we must be careful before saying that the Habs are not leaving room for their prospects and that they will look for other pieces on the market.
