The Montreal Canadiens aren’t tanking… not necessarily anyway. In their current situation, facing the injuries the Habs have had, they’re just a bad team, 10 points out of the second Eastern Conference wild-card spot coming out of All-Star Weekend. That’s an important distinction to make.
Newhook Set to Return
Yes, the Canadiens did trade away one of their better players in Sean Monahan last week. No, they didn’t get any immediate help in exchange, exacerbating their lack of depth down the middle. However, maybe, just maybe, they’re not looking to steer into the skid. Maybe they’ve still got some fight left. Enter a soon-to-be returning Alex Newhook. He’s the help who could potentially (partially) offset the loss of Monahan, their trade-deadline acquisition if you will (just minus the presumptive playoff push that usually accompanies such an addition).
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Newhook has been out since late November with a high ankle sprain. However, it’s in part his impending return that prompted general manager Kent Hughes to trade Monahan when he did, with Hughes telling the media after the trade regarding the resulting lack of centres: “We have reason to believe Newhook will be coming back soon. That made us comfortable to make the deal now instead of waiting.”
That in and of itself doesn’t mean head coach Martin St. Louis will play Newhook at centre. He does theoretically have other options, even if Jake Evans is a less-than-ideal alternative on the second line, all due respect to him. You’ve also got the just-signed Brandon Gignac, Mitchell Stephens and Lucas Condotta. Most, including St. Louis, may be interested in seeing what Gignac has to offer right off the bat, but, for all intents and purposes, the latter three have each made their bones in the minors.
Evans meanwhile lacks finishing ability and has just two goals and 13 points in 49 games. There’s no reason to get overly excited at the idea of any of them completely or even somewhat replacing Monahan. Newhook should be a different story.
Newhook’s Second Chance at Centre?
All things considered, Newhook is the best of the bunch. To be more accurate, he’s maybe the least-bad option, after his first go-around at centre had been defined by an underwhelming showing between Juraj Slafkovsky and Josh Anderson. However, under the circumstances, from here on out, Newhook at centre, even though he can also play wing, makes the most sense.
The Canadiens have plenty of options who can play in the top six on either wing, even without Newhook. Furthermore, even if Slafkovsky has emerged as a decent option to complement Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield on the first line, thereby enabling the Canadiens to move away completely from Kirby Dach as a winger and commit to the latter as the team’s second-line centre when healthy, Newhook can still contribute there in his stead.
At the very least, it’s worth seeing if Newhook has chemistry as a centre (with other players not named Anderson). Ultimately, when Dach first suffered his season-ending injury, St. Louis immediately turned to Newhook to fill in as that second-line centre for a reason. If the only thing that’s changed since then is him having failed right off the bat, then nothing much has, really, in the grand scheme of things.
What Do Canadiens Have in Newhook?
The entire team has largely fallen flat after all. It’s gotten to the point the Canadiens have really nothing left to lose… and if they do suddenly find themselves losing more with Newhook taking reps at centre? It’s not the worst thing.
You’ll simply have confirmed to a safer degree you can move on from the Newhook-at-centre experiment without consequence. At that point it’s more of a conclusion that he’s best on this team as a winger. There’s nothing wrong with that in theory. However, him gaining confidence as a centre and the team being able to show confidence in him in that role is for what everyone involved should strive. You can’t get to that point until you give him that opportunity (again), though.
Whatever happens, so be it. However, on the precipice of inevitable elimination from playoff contention, the Canadiens don’t need Newhook to succeed. They do need to find out his limitations beyond a shadow of doubt, though. There’s no better time than now, when the pressure is at a minimum. And, if it just so happens he finds a groove, it wouldn’t exactly be bad to be able to roll three offensively inclined lines come next season with Dach back, because that’s how you compete regularly in the NHL. In contrast, resigning yourself to Evans as your second-line centre, even now, is what would truly be defeatist.
