Canadiens Attempt to Maintain Last Year’s Roster
After their surprise run to the Eastern Conference Finals, it is not a surprise that the Montreal Canadiens are attempting to retain as much of last season’s roster as possible. The Canadiens began this trend with the re-signing of Tomas Plekanec, and have continued it by giving Tom Pyatt and Benoit Pouliot one-year contracts.
At 23, Pouliot had his best season in the National Hockey League thus far for the Canadiens. Given his youth, the Canadiens want to test his consistency with a short-term deal and another good season would bode well for Pouliot’s tenure as a Canadien.
The Canadiens acquired Pouliot from Minnesota on 23 Nov. 2009, in exchange for Guillaume Latendresse. Pouliot had been the fourth overall pick in the 2005 Draft. In 39 games for the Canadiens, Pouliot scored 15 goals and had nine assists for a total of 24 points. His best performance prior to that had been 11 points in 37 games for the Wild in 2008-09. Latendresse’s transition was also smooth. He had 37 points in 55 games for the Wild, after having only three in his 23 appearances for the Canadiens. In fact, the portion of his season for the Wild was statistically superior to every season he spent in Montreal.
Pyatt, who is also 23, showed promise in his first season in the NHL. In 40 games, Pyatt had five points with two goals and three assists. While his regular season numbers leave something more to be desired, he stepped up his performance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In 18 playoff games, Pyatt had two goals and two assists. One of his two goals was a game-winner against the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Pyatt comes from a hockey family. His father is former NHL player Nelson Pyatt and his brother is Phoenix Coyotes forward Taylor Pyatt. Taylor Pyatt has been in the League longer than his younger brother Tom, and has established himself as pro-calibre player. In 74 games for the Coyotes last season, Taylor Pyatt had 23 point from 12 goals and 11 assists.
At 5-foot-11 and weighing in at 180 pounds, the younger Pyatt has some developing left to do if he is going to make a serious impact in the NHL. Initially, he was just a throw-in with the massive transfer between the Canadiens and the New York Rangers which saw Pyatt, Scott Gomez, and Michael Busto sent to Montreal in exchange for Chris Higgins, Ryan McDonagh, Pavel Valentenko and Doug Janik. Now, the Canadiens hope he makes his own name for himself.
Pyatt won gold with Team Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championships in 2006 and 2007 and has been awarded the William Hanley Trophy in 2007. The Hanley Trophy is given out to the Ontario Hockey League’s most sportsmanlike player.
The two youngsters could develop and be a useful duo for the Canadiens, but Montreal needs to expand its franchise rather than retaining it. After the recent sale of Jaroslav Halak, there is cap space available and Montreal would be wise to spend it on bringing in new players. Their run through the Eastern Conference Playoffs last year was a surprise, and Montreal would be better off returning to the playoffs as an actual contender rather than a scrappy underdog.
There are many free agents available that could help boost Montreal’s line-up. If they are to succeed without trading away their proven players, they must be willing to spend money on some newer unrestricted players this off season.
Tags: