Recrutes

Recrutes: Hockey scouting from a professional perspective from Grant McCagg and Habs coverage from a 33 year veteran covering the NHL from Brian Wilde.

Proudly Sponsored By

Mclean’s Pub Call Of The Wilde: Hit The Reset Button

December 18, 2017

By Brian Wilde

The Montreal Canadiens have announced that defenceman Shea Weber is being shut down and sent home. The Habs are already struggling all over the ice and have just admitted that Weber’s foot injury simply will not heal without sufficient rest. This means that the club loses its top points per game player. That’s right, the player that many believe is slowing down or not good enough, Shea Weber, is tops among the team in points per game just ahead of another player who many think is not any good at center Jonathan Drouin.

It’s over, Habs fans. This season looks over. 

Sorry, but you must be a subscriber to view this content. Click here to sign in

About Brian Wilde

Brian Wilde has worked in hockey since he was 20. He was the rink side host for the Edmonton Oilers at CTV and Ottawa Senators for Sportsnet. He was also lead reporter on the Montreal Canadiens for 17 years at CTV Montreal.

View all posts by Brian Wilde

  • Andrew Marchand says

    Great Article. Is Scherbak playing center in the AHL? I thought he was a RW.

    The fear that a rebuild mentality brings to fans and likely to management is around FA attractiveness. Namely, Mr. Tavares.

  • Elizabeth says

    Excellent articulate article, Sir. Point on point. And in making the point, is not to say stop going out and enjoying and supporting these players or sport. Or rant and rumour. But to be a fan for the love of the game and the magic of people coming together in a community. Perhaps a lower expectation, yes..but true fans stick it out. Finding joy in small moments and appreciation in difficult times.
    We shall see soon which way this will go. And no matter..the love of hockey survives.
    Merci, Mr. Wilde.

  • Marvin Matthews says

    I don’t know how you get athletes with pride, i.e. Weber and Price, to buy into a tank plan.

  • Jean-Yves Fillion says

    Good article Brian, I would trade Weber because he is too slow for the new nhl. That is why Poile traded him,he was ahead of the curve and wanted to have most of his defense to be fast and mobile. Look at Nashville now even without Ellis they are still very strong. We hade a preview of what it was like without Weber for 5 games and our defense was faster and more mobile. And funny enough it was our stretch of 5 victories.

  • Michael says

    You are our voice Brian. These are the things we as Habs fans scream out on a daily basis. What’s your move Marc?

  • frederick moses says

    I hope that will be the plan. The history of the Canadiens shows otherwise tho. They will try to sneak in and get a mid round pick instead. And I won’t hold my breath for CJ and MB to play the kids more either.

  • Tom Griffin says

    Brian nails it…………So tough though….knowing the season is over by Christmas…..See ya all at the Draft Table……

  • Daniel Tremblay says

    Absolutely the best article read in the past week and more! Bravo Brian, hopefully Bergevin will take the best decisions.

    • Fahd Najmeddine says

      Great piece! Again! Honestly, this site is the best $35 I’ve spent in a long time ( You too Grant! ). I really hope Bergevin sees this line-up the way we do.
      No offense to an honest hockey player. But Froese even being on the ice, much less topping forwards’ ice time, is a slap in the face to a kid like JDLR. What is he going to learn from Byron Froese? How not to score?
      Frustrated!

      • Brian Wilde says

        Yeah Grant has been totally on this Froese stuff. He’s been pretty funny. I don’t much get it either. Journeyman player really.

  • michael Pelkonen says

    So now job one is..fake it til yuh dont make it…win a few to keep the seats full..ish, keep the dumb hopefull,but opps howd that happen lose enough to finish in the bottom 5 in the league. Hence shut down weber,take your time before lehkonen returns,ice the crappiest team possible to help lose games,and b.s the media and fans that your trying your best.delicate b.s act this tanking buissness. Ps..trade price too 15 mill with bonuses next few yrs for an injury prone ,best days are behind him goalie,over 30.

  • Nick Jurich says

    Great read Brian.

    Out of curiousity, what do you think a realistic return would be for Max, in terms of type of assets received? Something along the lines of what the Avs got for Duchene? Roster player+ package…etc?

    Personally/hypothetically if the Habs brass were to put Max on the market, I’m holding out for a blue chip prospect projected to be NHL ready next season, and perhaps a pick and roster player to even out the cap hit. At the very least centre a trade around a blue chipper, can’t see a contender moving a roster player and making a lateral move.

    I’m trying to think of a recent trade to use as a comparable, aside from Duchene, where a player of Max’s caliber is dealt with 1+ seasons left before becoming a UFA…not the best example but perhaps the Johansen for Seth Jones trade?

    • Brian Wilde says

      Considering he has two playoffs left at this price I would say a first rounder or the equivalent of a first rounder as a prospect.

      • Nick Jurich says

        Sounds about right…I think we’re at a point in the season where the lines have already been reshuffled every which way and something’s going to have to give soon.

  • Debbie Seida says

    I agree with everything you wrote. I would also try to unload Weber. He’s too slow and I don’t think he’s much of a deterrent when it comes to Price getting run over.

    I have a feeling MB will make some dumb move to try and make the playoffs.

    • Brian Wilde says

      Weber is the leader points per game as a defenceman. He’s a stud. He just doesn’t look like it some nights as he has to also carry his partner. Ask any of the best minds in hockey and they all think Weber is a stud.

  • Ralph Segreto says

    Sure, let our current GM who has difficulty admitting he’s made mistakes to start the rebuild. I don’t think so and I doubt it happens. Good plan, Bryan but I’d go further and move Weber too. His time line doesn’t fit with the plan.

  • François Gravel says

    Very interesting read. I love the fact to you put a road map for this season, with two clear paths that will make it easy to judge Bergevin’s work. I don’t think it will ever be possible to trade Alzner’s contract, though. At best, let’s hope that with Mete, Juulsen and 2018 stud, he will evolve in an (overpaid) third line defenseman that will be useful during the penalty kill and against the fourth liners.

    I’m afraid that’s not where we’re going. When Molson says Bergevin has a plan, he is thinking about the free cap space and basically telling us to wait, that in a couple of months or years, the Habs will manage somehow to sign a Tavares or a Karlsson. It won’t happen and the team will slowly but continue to fall into mediocrity.

    That said, I will say that about Bergevin: he is not afraid to make the big move when he is not happy. He traded Subban. He is certainly not afraid of trading Pacioretty. Will he? You said it: On verra…

  • Michael Cordeiro says

    Excellent read and brilliant take on the season so far. My big concern is that the coaching staff are able to adjust to the new NHL speed? I have faith in Julien but not sure about his assistants going forward.

    • Darcy McKenna says

      Assistants can be changed out & are a dime a dozen… but isn’t it Julien giving Bryon Froese 12 minutes a night? Not sure if he’s realized the league has changed.

      Oh well… not my $5 million a year!

  • David Feng says

    Brian, these are all logical, well thought-out, non-emotional conclusions. For these reasons I am 1000% sure that Bergevin and Molson WON’T take your advice. They’ll cling to the hope that the Habs manage to scrape through to a playoff spot, then rely on the old “anything can happen” addage That’s been the 5-year plan for the past 6 years.

  • Darcy McKenna says

    Brian, Great article as always. Do you see the Habs possibly going the route of taking on an over-payed, expiring contract for a better prospect?

  • michael Pelkonen says

    Its funny this ssn from the gate it seemed the idea was to be more transparent with the media eg: injurys.
    Well now its TANK MODE the habs cant have a news conference stand up there and bluntly say,yes this ssn is a loss at this point so for the best of the team weve decided its best to finish in the bottom 5 in the league and get that high draft choice to help rebuild.what we,ll do as a team for the rest of the ssn is sitout any player with an injury for as long as we can to ensure the weakest habs team takes the ice to help ensure a loss we need to finish at the bottom.thats why weve decided to shut down weber,no point harming his health when were out of it anyway. Also if by chance ” the worst” team we can ice is still winning near games end price will flub a save to ensure the loss,now dont take it out on pricey folks,weve instructed him to do so,hes agreed. We will bullshit the media and fans we are doing our best to win,to keep the not so savvy fans involved but in reality as weve stated its in our best intrest to lose this ssn rather then win.thats why we are not making any deals this ssn,we are keeping the 9 mill cap room,it pays off thierriens 4 mill we owe him,and the buyouts on the old slow dinasaurs we tried out at the begining but never panned out. Hope you as a fan base understand our longterm goals we thank you for your support,dont believe the b.s were going to feed you the rest of this ssn that were trying to win, and happy holidays !!

    • michael Pelkonen says

      Note: pelko_mike im off social media now,no twitter,facebook etc. Internal peace ahhh,luv recrutes will follow on www site everyday. Tankhabstank

  • steven lawrusik says

    Not sure why you would waste a year of UFA eligibility for Mete this season. If asset management is the top priority you send Mete back to junior so the he is a UFA at 28 and not 27.

  • Bob Tiller says

    Once again Brian you have written a great piece which articulates with well backed up reasoning what this team needs to do going foreward . I fear that the ship has sailed on getting any value for Pacioretty. Last year or the off-season would have been the best time to move him ( maybe they even tried, how am I to know ) . All I can surmise is that with each month closer to contract expiry his value becomes less and less.

  • Paul Crites says

    Great article.
    The NHL has been migrating to a young speed league for the last few seasons…it didn’t just happen. So for the GM and the pro scouting staff to think the Karl Alzner deal made sense….that’s just terrible. This is the same GM and pro scouting staff who added King, Martinsen, and Ott at the deadline. Do we really trust these guys with the rebuild?

  • Donald James says

    Brilliant, Brian. Absolutely brilliant. This should be the blueprint that Habs follow. A retool doesn’t have to be a 4-5 year ordeal, Habs would be competitive relatively quickly following this plan. 2 years max. Well done!

  • Jean Numainville says

    Brian, I agree with you 100%. Hopefuly, Marc Bergevin will do the right thing and retool for next year…

  • Rene Mathieu says

    I’m in agreement with most of what you wrote here.
    But I’m not optimistic about Drouin heading a strong center contingent down the road.
    I think right now he’s a contingency plan because they’re not just deep enough at the position.
    I’d like them to be strong enough at C two years from now to use Jo on the wing, right or left.
    Not sure how realistic it is, but I’d be all in for a Pacioretty for Chytil type of deal, if Patches can still return that much.
    Chytil, Poehling, Danault, DLR…
    Oh well, one can always dream.

  • Bill Shahidi says

    Pretty much agree with everything except Alzner isn’t that bad and you need at least 1 dman like him. Can’t have 6 puck movers IMO. And MB has already shown he’s not trading high picks or top prospects unless it’s for something significant such as Petry & Drouin so I’m not worried one bit.

  • GMan says

    I’ve been saying for some time that Pacioretty should be traded since he will cost too much to re-sign, glad you’re on board. He is the asset that can be the centerpiece to bring in a #1 center, which I’m sorry is still our biggest organizational need.. not the D.

    As for the D, Alzner was a predictable mistake.. assuming MB isn’t going anywhere for a while yet, whoever on his staff that was on board with signing him to that contract should be fired. They thought Streit & Hemsky were worth bringing in as well, enough.
    But you have Mete & now Juulsen who should make our top 6 next season.. joining Weber, Petry, Schlemko, Benn. If you can get rid of Alzner, then you have room for a more mobile replacement.

    • Brian Wilde says

      Actually, I have the stud they draft as the number 6 and they can make Benn the 7. The stud has to be a high pick though, but they’ll have to be able to either win the lottery or lose a bit more. I think they are set to draft about 6th at the moment.