A recent piece by my Last Word on Habs podcast co-host and all-around good guy, Connor Lapalme, lays out the case against Max Pacioretty. In sum, he argues that Habs need their captain to take charge, find his game, and score. While he is right on many counts, I am not sure Pacioretty is the right target. Below are some arguments in defense of Montreal Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty. Placing the responsibility on Pacioretty’s shoulders obscures deeper problems including the general manager’s failed off-season, the current makeup of the team, and the approach of the coach.
Connor’s Case
Connor begins by observing that the entire team is struggling to score. He is right of course. The Habs scoring struggles are longstanding. Last season they finished 15th in scoring. This year in seven games, the Habs have 11 goals. He is also right that a problem is that the Habs biggest scoring threat and leading sniper has been struggling. Connor points out that Pacioretty has only scored eight goals in the last 37 games. Worse, he has only lit the lamp once in his last 17 games, if you include the playoffs.
Connor argues while slumps are normal for Patches and that slow starts are nothing new, when you lack scoring depth, the captain must step up. This season Jonathan Drouin leads the team with five points (two goals, three assists) in six games. Pacioretty, their leading sniper, has just one goal this season. Connor concludes that if he doesn’t rebound, the Habs risk slipping too far down the standings to be able to turn it around.
In Defense of Pacioretty
There are at least three challenges that might be made to the case against Pacioretty. First, let’s all agree the Habs need scoring and Max is their best hope. Let’s also agree he is off to one of his slowest starts of his career. However, let’s concede that he can’t do it alone. The is a team with numerous problems.
It Starts on Defence
First, Max is part of a team that has a defense that has been decimated by Marc Bergevin. As Marc Dumont notes, over the last three years Pacioretty scored 102 goals. Sixty-four of them were assisted by former players Andrei Markov (30), P.K. Subban (25) or Nathan Beaulieu (9). The Habs are missing puck-moving defenseman who can transition from defense to offense and get the puck to the forwards quickly. Without them, Pacioretty’s Canadiens’ scoring woes are likely to continue. Why? Because Pacioretty’s goals come from his quick release usually most effective during a rush. These rushes are often generated from a slick outlet pass from the back end.
Pacioretty needs to help the Canadiens win and the team needs to give him the right tools in which to help them win. You won’t get one without the other.
Slot-Shot Based Offense
Second, the shift from the coaching styles from Michel Therrien to Claude Julien can be observed in terms of where the Habs are shooting from in the offensive zone. As Nathan Ni has observed, the Canadiens, under Therrien, shot from the periphery. Instead, Julien demands his team shoot from the slot. While shots from the slot are more likely to result in goals, waiting for perfect time to shoot means missing other opportunities. There is a worry here that Julien is making the perfect the enemy of the good. Outside shots can create scoring chances, especially when they lead to deflections, rebounds, or tips.
While the Habs are actively striving to shoot from the slot region, there may be something to be said for allowing goal scorers to well, score. If fans are expected to defer to Julien’s desire to micromanage every element of his players game, both on defense and offense, these tactics should have produced better results. In Boston, the Bruins were among the worst in the league at creating offense. This trend is continuing in Montreal.
Nine Million Other Reasons
Third and finally, there is a danger that by blaming Pacioretty for not carrying this team, we ignore the fact that Canadiens general manager is holding back nine million dollars. Signing Radulov and extending Markov would have gone a long way to addressing the scoring problems the Canadiens are facing. Markov played a key role in Pacioretty’s scoring success. Radulov is a creative juggernaut who would have provided some scoring and taken some of the pressure off the Captain. Another player, folks may have heard of is Alex Galchenyuk. This former 30-goal scorer has been banished to the fourth line for most of the season, treated like a teenager sent to their room without their phone.
Keeping Our Eyes on the Prize
There is lots of blame to go around for Montreal’s slow start, among the worst in franchise history. Pacioretty has not always played with enough pep or grit for some. The goals have been few and far between and they need to come if the Canadiens are going to turn it around.
If Max still can’t score when the Habs invest in some true puck-moving defenseman, is allowed to shoot from wherever he chooses and is supported by personnel allowed under the current cap, we can all let him have it. Until then, the blame for this mess belongs to one person. His name rhymes with Snark Merge-the-Van.
