There was a time, not long ago, when Montreal Canadiens forward Michael Pezzetta’s efforts on the ice earned him the respect and admiration of the Bell Centre patrons. He’s a grinder, a tough customer, the sort of fourth liner that can give their team a good shift by way of sending some physical messages and grinding it out. That hasn’t happened for a while. Why? Because Pezzetta hasn’t played in a while. Why? That’s the tricky part. Let’s discuss.
Toronto-Bred, Montreal Made
Born and bred in Toronto, one supposes there is some irony to the fact his entry into the NHL would be through that city’s long-time rival, the Canadiens. It’s also easy to forget that he was drafted some time ago, way back in 2016. Montreal selected him 160th overall. He wasn’t a top priority, but sometimes there are diamonds in the rough in those latter draft rounds. Or in Pezzetta’s case, rough diamonds.
He spent his youth in Ontario, most notably with the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) when he was a teenager. Moreover, he remained with that organization even after Montreal came calling, playing for the Wolves for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 campaigns as a 19 and 20-year-old.
The shift to the American Hockey League’s (AHL) Laval Rocket only happened in 2018-19 when he signed an entry-level contract with the Habs. His debut in the big leagues wouldn’t happen until November 2021, just a few months after Montreal’s Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Final. He logged 8:45 of ice time in a 3-0 home win over the Detroit Red Wings. The stats sheet didn’t show much, but he did register a pair of shots.
Related: Montreal Canadiens’ 2016 Draft Class Revisited
From that point onward, the gritty forward was a semi-regular fixture in the lineup. In 2021-22 he dressed for 51 games (remember, as of one month into that season’s calendar), then 63 in 2022-23, and most recently 61 in 2023-24. Fourth liners don’t get much of the spotlight. Case in point, his season average ice times have fluctuated between 9:19 (2022-23) and as low as 7:47 (2023-24). He’s not a goal scorer either, tallying five, seven, and three goals in the respective campaigns.
All that said, he displayed toughness on a roster that sorely lacked said ingredient; he had 81 penalty minutes in his first season, 77 in his sophomore campaign, and 59 last season. He’s the kind of player who will deliver a stunning body blow and engage in fisticuffs two seconds later. He’s a “Come at me, bro!” player.
Pezzetta Missing in Action This Season
And yet the 26-year-old has been entirely missing in action since late October. To that point, he’s only suited up three times, all in a very short span. He was combined with Christian Dvorak and Emil Heineman on the bottom line for the Oct. 22 contest at home to the New York Rangers, the Oct. 26 home date with the St. Louis Blues, and an Oct. 27 game away to the Philadelphia Flyers. He did not have a ton of game time in any, although he did crack 10 minutes when battling the Flyers (10:45).
Since then, he’s practically been a ghost. The only times the public or the media has witnessed his presence has been during practice skates and media pressers following said training sessions. Pezzetta himself has been quiet, not displaying any discontent publicly, at least. If anything, he’s putting on a positive façade, as evidenced by his attempt at being a scrum reporter on Dec. 11 with Kaiden Guhle.
It’s a very funny moment, but ironically speaks to the underlying truth of his situation. Since he’s not playing – at all – he might as well give it a go at another profession. The current streak of healthy scratches stands at 22 games.
The added irony to all of this is that he signed a two-year extension before the 2023-24 season. Granted, he’s not costing the team much at only $812,500 a year. What’s more, he’ll be an unrestricted free (UFA) agent next summer. It’s practically a case of “out of sight, out of mind.”
Trade, Let Walk Away, or Play
On the latest edition of the 32 Thoughts podcast, co-hosts Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas talked about a completely different team but on a subject could apply to the Canadiens. At around the 19-minute mark, they chat about the Vancouver Canucks’ current roster situation and how, when a club has too many options, some players can grow unhappy as the outsiders looking in.
As we wrote in the previous section, Pezzetta has not expressed any obvious frustrations. This is to his credit and reminds us of his professionalism. He’s still there at the practice facility. But other than that, he must be wondering what on earth happened to his time in Montreal.
Furthermore, the author isn’t going to pretend they’re a genius by coming up with this topic. Other publications are also wondering what is happening.
So what do head coach Martin St. Louis and general manager Kent Hughes do?
Truth be told, Montreal isn’t nearly as soft as they were a few seasons ago. Arber Xhekaj quickly comes to the defence of his teammates. Josh Anderson has some spunk to him, and so does Jayden Struble. Juraj Slafkovsky, despite being sold as a highly-skilled attacker, doesn’t suffer fools lightly. Everyone knows the grit Brendan Gallagher brings to the ice every night.
If Pezzetta’s perfect role is as the grinder who rises to the occasion when his mates need him but doesn’t nearly have the offensive touch those other players possess, his absence is understandable from a certain point of view.
On the flip side, given the Canadiens’ relative problems this season, having him in the lineup can’t possibly hurt either. If they aren’t winning many games, at least demonstrate that they can’t be pushed around.
But even that philosophy runs into some issues. Obviously, he’s never going to be in the top six. The question, therefore, is: where in the bottom six does he play? Does St. Louis take Heineman out for some games just to give Pezzetta some ice time? It’s an option, not necessarily a ridiculous one, but not a brilliant one since, of the two, the club is arguably more keen on developing Heineman than being nice to Pezzetta for the sake of it.
The argument to sit Anderson would have flown a short while ago, but lo and behold he’s started scoring again, tallying goals in two consecutive games: Dec. 14 versus the Winnipeg Jets and Dec. 17 against the Buffalo Sabres.
Does one try him on the right and rest Joel Armia, the player Finland just selected for its 4 Nations Face-Off roster? That would look just as silly.
This is one of those cases where one feels bad for the player concerned, but the solution, as far as lineup inclusion is concerned, isn’t nearly as simple as one might think. There may be a solution, but there is no: “Oh, obviously they need to do X. Easy-peasy.” Otherwise, the club would have done it. Somebody might get injured, or one of the aforementioned players suffers a bad slump. But those rest on maybes.
The best thing is to shop him around. He doesn’t cost much and is exactly the sort of player a playoff hopeful in need of extra backbone could use. Do right by him. Don’t let him waste a season when he’s healthy and only 26 years old, 27 next March. Players don’t like sitting. No one will expect a glorious bounty in return, but if the Canadiens can mid-level draft capital, great.
Whatever the outcome, Pezzetta is a character on the ice and in the dressing room. Any team, Montreal included, should be glad to have him. Unfortunately, sometimes the circumstances work against a player, and they may be doing just that in this instance.
