Can the Montreal Canadiens Find Their Way into the Playoffs?
The Montreal Canadiens made a big move this week, acquiring Patrik Laine from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Laine is the piece that was missing up front for the Canadiens, as Montreal needed a goal-scoring top-six forward.
How Patrik Laine Makes Sense for the Montreal Canadiens
Vice President of Hockey Operations Jeff Gorton and General Manager Kent Hughes are executing their rebuild plan perfectly. They are setting the Canadiens up for success for many years to come, not just one year.
Acquiring Laine was the next step as the young players continued to develop. However, the team’s next step is to start competing for the playoffs.
The question is with the acquisition of Laine, Can the Montreal Canadiens be a playoff team this season with the addition of Patrik Laine?
TSN Hockey Analyst Frankie Corrado joined Laura Diakun on SportsCentre and was asked that exact question regarding the Canadiens playoff chances this season. He thought they would come up short.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Did the Montreal Canadiens Need To More This Offseason?
Laura Diakun: “Because the goal, of course, is to make the playoffs and to win the Stanley Cup. So they had a relatively quiet off-season until this Monday and this blockbuster trade. Do you think the team has done enough now that they can compete for a playoff spot?”
Frankie Corrado: “I’m not quite there that they’re a playoff team yet, but they’re taking the steps, and this is part of it, like you probably bring in Patrik Laine not so much, to just see what he’s got this year, to see if you can turn this around for the long term, and he can join this young nucleus of players moving forward when you eventually do try and make the playoffs.
And I think the Montreal Canadiens, they’re right where they need to be. You know, it’s really crowded at the top of the Atlantic Division. You have Toronto, Boston, Florida, Tampa Bay. None of those teams are going anywhere, and there is some money on the books here for Montreal that you would like to see move off of it. That is going to happen organically.
Can Patrik Laine Get Back To Being A Goal Scorer for Montreal?
But now Patrik Laine has a chance to kind of tie himself to this young core group of players in Montreal and see if he can be a part of the solution moving forward and not the problem.”
Diakun “And you’re right, it’s definitely an intriguing move, and the dividends could be huge for the Montreal Canadians. We thought it would just be a nice, quiet summer day in the NHL. Nope. Thanks for this, Frankie.”
Even though some might have wanted the Montreal Canadiens to do more this off-season, they are in rebuild mode. If they follow the plan, the Canadiens should be back in the playoffs next season.
However, if the Canadiens do not play meaningful games in March and April, the season will be viewed as disappointing.