The priority for the Canadiens and Kent Hughes will be to strengthen the team’s center situation.
Although the organization doesn’t say so openly, the most pressing need is for a second center capable of supporting Ivan Demidov and Patrik Laine, which would solve the Habs’ top-6 situation.
However, there could also be movement in the third and fourth trios.
I don’t think Christian Dvorak will be back next season, and if the Canadiens really wanted to re-sign him, they’d have done it by now.
The third center position could then be filled by either Alex Newhook or Kirby Dach, being a position with less offensive pressure than second center.
In Newhook’s case, the fact that he’s left-handed, like Dvorak, could give him an advantage when we know that Martin St-Louis places a great deal of importance on the laterality of his center players, especially when it comes to face-offs.
That leaves Jake Evans, coming off a career-best 36-point season, as the fourth-line center.
Evans, 28, signed a 4-year contract extension worth $11.4 million (annual average $2.85 million).
However, Arpon Basu explained in The Basu & Godin notebook podcast that the presence of Jake Evans blocks Owen Beck and Oliver Kapanen’s chances with the team, notably because all three centers are right-handed.
The problem right now is that the Canadiens have a surplus of right-handed centers. The only left-handed center on the team is Newhook, which could be a problem in our coach’s strategy.
The Rocket’s best left-handed center prospect is Florian Xhekaj.
However, as my colleague Félix Forget explained earlier, we may not see him in Montreal for a few years.
Could Beck and Kapanen be wing options for the Habs? Or should the organization let him play center and get more playing time with the Rocket?
In short, it’s a good thing the Habs are at the point in their rebuild where we’re seeing congestion at certain positions, while the team also has specific needs to fill.
However, let’s hope the Canadiens don’t let some prospects get lost in their development for lack of room with the team.
It’ll be interesting to see what decisions the team’s management makes in the coming months.
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