THN’s Jason Chen just released his latest article on the NHL power rankings, and he has the Montreal Canadiens in 16th place. Given the fact that they made the playoffs but were eliminated in five games, faster than anyone else, it makes sense to see them in that spot. Mind you, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the New Jersey Devils also bowed out of the first round in five games, but are ranked 11th and 14th, respectively, ahead of the Ottawa Senators, who lost their first-round series in six games.
There have been some changes in Montreal since that loss in five games to the Washington Capitals, though. Out are Christian Dvorak, Joel Armia, David Savard, Emil Heineman, Cayden Primeau, and Logan Mailloux. In are Noah Dobson, Zack Bolduc, Joe Veleno, Samuel Blais, Kaapo Kahkonen, and Ivan Demidov are in from the start. Youngsters Oliver Kapanen, Owen Beck, and Florian Xhekaj are knocking on the door.
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The penalty kill took quite a hit, but on the other hand, the power play got quite a helping hand. Kent Hughes went talent hunting and found some, which will give Martin St-Louis something he hasn’t had on the man-advantage since he first took charge of the Canadiens: options.
On paper, Hughes has made significant changes, and they look good, but you don’t win games on paper; you win them on the ice. So far, the Canadiens have won their two preseason games, but neither of the teams they faced had a full NHL lineup, and even if they did, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers are not expected to be contenders this year.
As the regular season gets nearer and cuts start happening, we’ll get to see, slowly but surely, how good Hughes’ moves really were. There’s another unknown in the equation, though: surgically repaired Kirby Dach will be getting yet another kick at the second center can, and this time, he’s done everything he could this summer to get ready.
Drafting power rankings is always a complex exercise, but even more so when there are so many unknowns around the league. Let’s check in those rankings after a week of regular season, when we’ll at least have some answers to the big questions.
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