MONTREAL--The 2012-2013 class of Montreal Canadiens will mostly be receiving high grades. Expectations were exceeded by large margins. Ultimately, an injury bug hit the class at the worst time, but this is an uncontrollable occurrence that should not take away from exceptional tasks achieved.
 
FORWARDS
 
Brendan Gallagher: A+
Gallagher is the poster boy for it's not the size of the man, it's the size of the heart. Gallagher is no bigger than your shoe, but just try taking the puck from him, or the front of the net from him. Desharnais must watch Gallagher and wonder why he can't do that. PK Subban said that Gallagher was the best forward on the team this year and should be a lock for the Calder. I agree. A pain to play against in all three zones every single minute of every single game. For a rookie, and for a 5th round draft choice, this is Trevor Timmins proud moment. The tougher playoffs and the huge Senators defence didn't deter him either. What a bright future the Habs have with the two Galleys at the helm. Cups are won with 7 year assets. Gallagher has 6 more seasons as a Habs player for sure. Great things he will lead.

Alex Galchenyuk: A
Hard to find any fault in Galchenyuk's rookie season. How he was handled at year's end when clearly his play was elevating but not his minutes could be critiqued, but that's not Alex's fault. He's the entire package and no question in anyone's mind he will be a superstar. One only worries generally whether a young kid has it in his heart, but Galchenyuk's post game thoughts where he was fighting back emotion is all you need to know about his commitment to hockey and a Stanley Cup.  In fact, it was the saying of the words 'Stanley Cup' that brought out the cracking voice. He is already a remarkable teammate which speaks to his pro hockey playing father who taught him lessons along the way and to the coaching staff who taught him the team concept. There's nothing more exciting than a great hockey talent showing you that he's got all the intangibles as well. It is at that point you cannot ask for more. Next season though, the organization should move his development forward. He needs to go in the one or the two hole at centre.  When the parade route is being mapped, the Habs know it will be Galchenyuk who got them there, so get on it: the championship road is not travelled with the driver taking alternative highways - get the kid on the main highway. He's ready.

Brandon Prust: A
Exactly what the Habs needed. Before this season, teams would look at coming into Montreal as a night off from bruises and pain, then Prust came to town. Prust had to be worth 5 wins alone when he wasn't even on the scoresheet, but causing enough respect that others were given the opportunity to play bigger. He also provided enough offense, was able to be slotted into every position on every line, fought when it was required, and in the end, showed a tremendous desire to win that filtered all over the locker room. You don't have more courageous than jamming your own rib back into place and then getting back out on the ice. You can see when a championship is won that Prust is a part of it playing the role defined for him. One of Bergevin's best moves if not the best so far in his short tenure.

Rene Bourque: B
It was an outstanding recovery year for Bourque when he was healthy. One of the biggest concerns heading in to the season considering the onerous length of his contract, Bourque responded and showed the previous year's hernia was ultimately what was hurting him most. This year however, a new concern as a long history of concussions is the only reason to worry about what Bourque can bring to a championship run in the next 4 years. The playoffs were especially positive as Bourque has a physical strength on the puck and an ability to lay out some solidly painful hits that are so needed in April as you try to establish a momentum of dominance in every way over your opponent during a 7 game series.

Lars Eller: B
Michel Therrien asked Eller to establish himself at a higher level this year and before he was concussed in the playoffs he was doing everything asked of him. Eller has learned how to win puck battles, and not only does he win them, he comes out of the corner leaving his opponent well behind him many times. He is hard to play against. He competes well. He was the best centre in the first playoff game before the injury, even though, sadly this is a very small sampling. The only hole in his game still is his finish around the net. One wonders if he is still blooming, or will he never get comfortable enough to convert a higher percentage of the plays that he should. As they say though, first you get the chances, and then you convert them. Eller's offensive zone possession time by the end of the year was superior to the other centers by a long margin. He was involved in just about every goal as the season concluded, but one still gets the feeling that he can still do so much more around the net. His question mark is what kind of courage can he muster to play without fear again considering he just lost 10 minutes of his life. Hard to even imagine what it must feel like to not remember 10 minutes. Pierre Gauthier didn't do a lot right in his tenure, but he sure nailed this trade beautifully. Any GM who has two prized assets in net is a bad GM. Gauthier understood that and traded for Eller, a first rounder, at the pinnacle of Halak's career. Bergevin gets to enjoy the rewards of that decision for a long time to come.

Tomas Plekanec: C+
Plekanec is the hardest player for me to rate. It feels like his role on the team is changing and he is slowly becoming the team's third line centre. If he were, he would be one of the best in the game. He has always handled the other team's best centre since he arrived here, but now with the emergence of Eller and Galchenyuk, the future seems to have Plekanec assuming a more carefully defined role - to defend well, to neutralize, to penalty kill, and to still provide offense, but not be asked to carry the load of it.  Age and time change a lot and it feels like both are moving in Eller and Galchenyuk's direction and moving away from Plekanec. Still a great hockey player, but a vision of the future just doesn't have a Stanley Cup run with him as number one on the depth chart and everyone knows it.

Brian Gionta: C
The criticism for Gionta this year is too harsh. This happens when expectations are high and they are because of his salary. Gionta didn't have an outstanding season but he was not a liability. He is on the downslope of his career it is true, but the dissension is not so rapid that it is a problem at this point.  He is still the captain and he is still a smart player who is on the right side of the puck most of the time.

Ryan White: C
White is the poster boy for the Habs ability to teach and help a player grow inside their team concept. White kept making mistake after mistake costing points to the team, but he like a man, kept taking his punishment, and learning his lessons, and he finishes the season with the Habs management believing they have found a warrior. White had a punctured lung and was struggling for every breath when he took on the Sens in that frustrating game 3. Not the wisest move to initiate when you can't breathe, but that is who White is. He is ready to go to war.  Champions are won on the back of this attitude. He is an RFA. He will be back and he will be better. The fourth line always has a spot for the Ryan White's of this world. Serviceable in one end. Reliable in the other. And a pain in the ass to his opponent in all of the intangible ways. Ryan White saved his career by being a man and standing up when it counted. Now he can move forward with all of those lessons behind him.

Max Pacioretty: C-
Pacioretty is a power forward who needs to start playing like it. When you are wondering if a player is injured for half a season and he was not, that's not a good thing. He's an outstanding skater inside a big body. When scouts hear that, they drool generally because they know that this synopsis means power forward driving to the net with defenders having a terrible time containing without at least taking a penalty. So get on it Max, drive to the net! He does that one thing and his season improves by 100 percent. Everything else falls into place. When he does show that he is willing to drive to the net hard, then defensemen back off, and now suddenly he is getting more shots from quality locations. One good thing begets another good thing.... so Max, did I mention drive to the net?  Make it your mantra and watch your numbers explode next year.

Michael Ryder: C-
If Prust isn't Bergevin's best move, then losing Cole's salary for the impending UFA Ryder is his best. Not because Ryder concluded the season with any flair, he did not, but because the money now freed up for Bergevin will look good in early July.  Ryder will not it is presumed be back. The poor playoff sealed his fate. When Ryder had 10 goals in 12 games, I thought that there was a spot here for him, but Ryder's problem is if he is not scoring, he is not bringing anything else.  He is not painful to play. He has a big frame but doesn't hit. He has a big frame but doesn't win puck battles. He isn't a fighter. He isn't a passer. He just puts pucks in the net and when that well dries up as it did in the playoffs, he is frustrating for a coach who sees nothing else good shift after shift.

Colby Armstrong: D
Max Pacioretty would like to see Armstrong back because he is a positive force in the room, but the quality of hockey isn't good enough to warrant it. Armstrong's work was simply serviceable, but with young players waiting in the system that can ultimately propel the Habs to greater heights, they should be given a shot over a serviceable 30 year old UFA. The playoffs show it is preferred that your fourth liners are tough to play against causing havoc, and Armstrong doesn't fit that bill.  It will be tough for Armstrong. He needs to redefine his skill set considering the days of big numbers with Crosby are well behind him.  Armstrong is a wonderful person, a real treasure in the room, but one can surmise listening to the message management sent him on post mortem day that that will not be good enough to return to the red, white, and blue.
 
David Desharnais: D
The anger over his play dominated Twitter for two months as he became a whipping boy for fan frustration. The season was a sad one for Desharnais who wished to establish the previous year when he was one of the few bright spots on the team, but something happened on the way to deserving that long term contract. On one hand, Desharnais is 26 and the possibility that he has lost his game at this young age seems remote. It is very rare that a player establishes himself at 25 and loses his game already at 26. We shall see. More clear is that his role needs to be redefined. He is essentially not tradable at 3.5 per, so what must change is where he sits on the depth chart.  Galchenyuk is the future. He must move to centre. Eller is the best center on the team, or at least he was for the last month, so he must be a centre. Plekanec is obviously a centre. Desharnais needs to have his minutes reduced, including his powerplay time, and move into his rightful place 4th on the centre depth chart because he cannot play wing. It's a tough road now to recovery for Desharnais, and one presumes Marc Bergevin wonders if he has made his first big mistake as a GM.
 
Travis Moen: D
I remain convinced that Moen suffered a concussion that frightened him the year before, and as a result, has altered his physical game significantly. He got a 4 year commitment and what he has returned so far is not enough. Moen needs to hit more. He needs to be more of a nuisance. He needs to be a tougher opponent to play against. The Habs have only a limited amount of grit on the roster. When you're expected to bring some grit, you better bring it. Moen also showed a reluctance to fight this season which falls into my concussion theory. The weight doesn't fall heavily on Bergevin for this one though like it does for Desharnais as the salary is 1.8 per year and not 3.5. If it goes down as a mistake and Moen doesn't bring more bitterness to his game next year, 1.8 is not a Gomez 7.3 or a Kaberle 4.5, so you can at least call of the wolves.
 
DEFENCEMEN

PK Subban: A+
Subban deserves every one of his detractors to get off their high horse and make a daily visit to the locker room and the practices of the Canadiens. If they saw his comportment on a daily basis in Brossard, they would feel like complete and total idiots for the BS they say about him.  Subban was an exemplary teammate this year. He deflected personal praise to talk about a team concept. He stood up and said sorry when he made a mistake like he did in overtime once when he tried to lay out an overly aggressive hit that cost the team a win. He shied away from the cameras much more and stayed humble. The coaching staff taught him how to be a better defenseman, with a lower risk profile, and he was ready to learn and he did learn. The detractors are so far off in trotting out their tired gibberish about PK Subban that I am embarrassed for them.  On the ice, well, what is there to say: he's the best defenceman in hockey today, and he's 23 and he's just getting started, and he's going to be filthy rich by NHL standards soon, and he'll deserve every penny, and Bergevin is going to wish he took a chance and passed up on his bridge contract theory this one time.
 
Jarred Tinordi: B
What Tinordi did is the hardest thing for a young rookie defenseman to do: arrive on the scene near the end of the season and into the playoffs and give the team solid minutes without error when the pressure is this highest. Tinordi did that just about every shift. The most developed of the big 4 in Hamilton by far, Tinordi won't see a Bulldogs jersey again in his career.  The future looks very bright. He will be a steady blueliner for the Habs for years to come. He will also be a guy who fights and wins, and who hits and damages. He has come exactly as advertised.
 
Alexei Emelin: B-
It was remarkable to see how the defence fell apart without him. He really did put a lot of fear into opponents that if they entered the zone without full concentration of the physical price, that they would pay. After he was gone, there was so little physicality on the Habs blue line, the opposition took liberties. This just shows you that a team is made up of all types of players - each adding his strength.
 
Josh Gorges: B-
What a warrior! What a battler! But not a big man and too much was asked of him at times as the games piled up every two nights and Gorges started to lose some puck battles.  Gorges is a great leader. He will be the next captain of the team it is presumed. He, however, needs a strong partner, a physical partner to succeed. He is assessed entirely on defense and a better partner scenario is what he needs to achieve his highest standing.
 
Raphael Diaz: C
He was off to a very solid start with plenty of powerplay points and time, and good decisions on the back end, but the concussion totally turned his season. After it, and I don't blame these guys for being fearful when their head is scrambled for two months, he was not the same player. We will see how he recovers in time, because that fear can always stay with a player. Diaz is a great talent, but he is small, so he needs the coaching staff to put him in situations where he can succeed, as in not in the last minute defending his own goal physically in game four. Diaz needs some easy minutes, but more than that, he needs some confidence back that the next hit to his head isn't going to scramble his brain. I cannot imagine that fear.

Andrei Markov: C
Markov is going to make it through this three year contract, but just barely. The loss of foot speed was evident from the first game, but his savvy and vision has brought him through it.  Defensively, he puts himself on the correct side of the puck through sheer intelligence for the game. If a less intelligent player had lost that kind of foot speed through knee surgeries, he would have been exposed night after night, but Markov has survived. He made it through the season with the knee holding up. Another player though who we are witnessing the final days of and when the cup is won, he will not be in the mix sadly. I say sadly, because fate was not kind to him, nor his knee, and he deserved so much better than what the hockey Gods gave him.

Francis Bouillon: C-
Bouillon had difficulty at season's end. He was the defender responsible for rotating in a lot of newbies and that's not easy, but in the end, Bouillon himself was making tired looking decisions in the playoffs. Bouillon is religious about training and taking care of his body and even though he is aging, I believe he will be fine for the season he is signed on for next year. The minutes need to be a little less. Surely, the guard is changing on the Habs and he is soon to be moving on, but for now, Bouillon is a good mentor, and delivers the odd solid hit which we saw with Emelin is important overall.


GOALTENDERS

Peter Budaj: B
Exactly what a back up goalie should be.  Not withstanding the final debacle, his record in the season was 8-1-1. How can you ask more for a back up than that on the ice? And off it, he was exactly what you need: comfortable in his role of back up, not challenging the number one in any way, and a salary that doesn't hurt the bottom line. Budaj is perfect. Anybody who wants their back up to be more than him, doesn't know how to manage a salary cap era team.
 
Carey Price: C
The hardest for last because Carey Price can be so much more than he was this season.  In his 6 years with the Habs, this is his worst season of save percentage of .905. His playoff numbers dipped below .900. But let's not make the ridiculously stupid argument that Price doesn't have the mental make up for this. Oh that steams me!  He had the mental make up for Canadian junior  gold and he had it for a Bulldogs championship.  At the NHL level, he shutout the Bruins in game 7 of a series in 2009 and was one goal shy in game 7 of beating the eventual Cup champs in round one.  I think if you think there is someone who can handle the pressure cooker that is Montreal better than he, you are sadly mistaken, and will quickly learn that Price handles it as well as is humanly possible. 
 
The problem with Carey Price's game right now is all technical. The athleticism remains the same. He has a lightning glove. He has lightning quick feet. His push off laterally is powerful.  His frame is big. He is a goaltender's perfect physical specimen. Talent wise it is all there and I wouldn't choose another goalie over him. So what is it then?  It's his goalie education. It's not good. Francois Allaire is quoted in the last week on Price and he's worth repeating. Price is doing some bizarre technical things that are easy to correct. He pushes off laterally and slides right past target and leaves the net, so when the play comes back the other direction quickly, he can't cover the other post.  He isn't taking away the bottom of the net when the play is in close.  On long shots, often from the points, Price is on his knees and being small. On breakaways, he is dropping his shoulders and being small. Price is a big goalie. He needs to be a big goalie. When you ask him what he tried to do on a save, he always answers be big. He isn't big right now. Price just needs to go back to school.  Don't believe me. Believe Allaire. After the technical problems are corrected, the athleticism will take over and you'll get your world class goalie back.  You give up on him now, and you're making an enormous mistake. Enormous.
 

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