Maxim Lapierre calls for a greater use of Ryan Poehling

In these circumstances, it is important to look for positives where there are, and currently, it is the holding of the young Michael Pezzetta and Samuel Montembeault that represents a ray of sunshine in the formation.

Indeed, as former forward Maxim Lapierre mentioned, during his column on JiC, these two young men take advantage of the setbacks of the rest of the team to win the good graces of their head coach, Dominique Ducharme.

"For some time now, we have seen that Ducharme wants to send a message and play the players who deserve it. If you don't do the right things and you don't work, you play less, it's as simple as that. It's more merit-based. It's the right thing to do. You have to earn your ice time, regardless of your role and salary,» Lapierre said.

In the case of young Ryan Poehling, however, Lapierre would like Ducharme to make much better use of him. He would like to see the CH's first-round selection in 2017 be used on an offensive trio so that he can better exploit his talent.

"I want to see him with Josh Anderson or Tyler Toffoli. I'm tired of seeing him with Pezzetta and Artturi Lehkonen, who don't highlight it. Let's give this first-round choice an opportunity to stand out," he said, hammering out the man who has scored five goals and two assists in 25 games since the start of the campaign.