Call of the Wilde: Montreal Canadiens’ future begins to take shape – Montreal | The Canadian News

The Montreal Canadiens believe they have taken their first steps towards a better future.

On Monday morning, owner Geoff Molson spoke to the media about a new vision that included Jeff Gorton as head of hockey operations, working in partnership with a yet-to-be-named French-speaking general manager.

The future began to take shape on Monday and that is the focus of our Call of the Wilde on a night when the Canadiens once again failed to win two straight games this season falling to the Vancouver Canucks.

Wilde’s Letters

If the Montreal Canadiens are serious about doing this well and thoroughly, they must get down to business now. Owner Geoff Molson talked about a complete rebuild this morning when he met with the media and that he is not afraid of it.

But what does a complete rebuild mean to people?

In truth, to get it right, a complete rebuild is a three to five year project. First of all, the public must be prepared for it. It sounds great to just reply, “Sure, that sounds good,” but that’s a lot of pain on many nights. A complete rebuild means the Canadiens really hit bottom or almost bottom, and then build a foundation that is sustainable.

That is where Canadians have failed time and time again. They have never fallen far enough to build a sustainable foundation. They have never had the courage to do a complete rebuild. Instead, they did what Marc Bergevin liked to call a ‘reboot’.

Unfortunately a reboot does not create a strong enough foundation. Instead, the weak base collapses over and over again. That’s why the Canadiens draft the top five every three years.

That brings us to another truth that is never told, and it is this: a team cannot do a complete rebuild when the goalkeeper is too good to do it.

It is impossible to rebuild when the goalkeeper is Carey Price. It masked so many problems with a savings percentage that it was too good to lose enough to reveal the real structural weakness at the base. If you want to look like you need to do a complete rebuild? Get .885 on goal. The foundation has not been good for a long time.

The Montreal guard has had two decades of not being strong enough in the middle at the center position, except last season. The Montreal point guard has had years and years without enough talented defenders who move pucks, which means too much hockey is played in front of the incredible goalie. That goalkeeper covered so many blemishes.

Subtly, this has led us to a place where the club has not been as entertaining over the years. There hasn’t been an exciting player since Alex Kovalev or PK Subban. Those two players kicked fans out of their seats with their skills in those seasons. Kovalev was the last scorer of points per game and that was in 2008. They haven’t had a 40-goal scorer in this century.

A team designed to play on the offensive end of the ice with defenders who move the puck and then centers who can rack up some points in the offensive zone that are now easily earned would be welcome for years to come.

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Montreal will always support hockey. Canadiens will always be popular, but wouldn’t it be great to be really exciting too? It’s been a long time since the brand of hockey played at the Bell Center was exciting.

So what is the job ahead?

First of all, the amazing goalkeeper deserves the chance to get out of here. You have invested time and work. If it’s a long-term project, Price shouldn’t be a part of it, and he isn’t supposed to want to be a part of it. That he waives his no-trade clause in his contract.

After that, the Canadiens would get enough cap dollars on the contract to make an acceptable trade for a high-ranking team just short of a goalie to compete for the cup.

Immediately, the Edmonton Oilers come to mind as a possible home for Price. He loves the west. It’s from the west. He has family from that area, like his wife Angela. On the face of it, Price would go to Edmonton and the Canadiens would keep about half the compounding dollars of the deal. GM Ken Holland returns draft picks, prospects and goalie Mikko Koskinen for the Oilers to fit under the cap.

Perhaps Dylan Holloway can come to Montreal, if the Canadiens collect a larger portion of the cap for Edmonton. The rebuilding of the Canadiens begins with a flourish, and the Oilers immediately become cup contenders.

Next up, Ben Chiarot, while he’s an important part of the team right now in terms of minutes played and even power play time, should move as soon as now. Chiarot is an unrestricted free agent and is getting in the way of rebuilding by helping the club win games. If anyone wants to give the Canadiens a first round, take it. There are a lot of teams that don’t make the playoffs now in a 32-team league.

That means it will be more of a buyer’s market by the trade deadline. As soon as someone wants to give up a first round, go ahead.

It’s hard for people to realize that the goal of a rebuild is to draft high while building three or five years from now. The Canadiens are doing very well so far as they are in a position to pick in the top five. That is the goal.

However, it is not just all unrestricted free agents that would be traded. Anyone who is not playing great hockey when the rebuilding is complete must be relocated. Check the birth certificates of all players. If your age starts at three in 2023, they are already exhausting their welcome as early as right now. Proper rebuilding is not achieved by holding on to aging players.

How will we know that the new management team is taking the right steps to create a sustainable path? The key actions are as follows: Defenders are sought to move the puck, soon another highly talented center-skater for the CH, Carey Price is released to go win a cup somewhere, Ben Chiarot receives a cast, older players receive a cast before his value drops, young talent gets more ice minutes in Montreal or Laval to benefit his development, and Dominique Ducharme is left as head coach because this season he is already lost.

After the pain, the Canadiens should be a team built to play offensive zone hockey and be exciting, rather than a team built around a stay-at-home goalie and defenders who stay at home all the time.

I, for one, can’t wait for this. I hope the right men are in place to do this properly. I think Jeff Gorton, judging by his acumen in acquiring Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox when he was a prospect, is the right man for the job. Gorton’s record is exemplary.

You can build a winner and also an exciting team. Starting clean, you have a mandate to build something sustainable.

Is the time.

Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after every Canadiens game.