Call of the Wilde: Canadiens’ rebuild a long road ahead after 7-2 loss to Rangers

It was the biggest situation of the play for the Montreal Canadiens astatine the Bell Centre connected Tuesday night. The New York Rangers are picked by galore to triumph the Stanley Cup this season, and they are disconnected to a blistery start.

The Canadiens showed that determination are inactive a batch of increasing pains remaining successful this rebuild. It was an embarrassing night, losing 6-2.

Wilde Horses 

It’s hard to find positives erstwhile the eyes are wide unfastened to each of the games that stay this play with the pieces intelligibly not successful spot yet, but that’s what a rebuild is, truthful the extremity is to find immoderate ‘green shoots’.

After six games of struggling to find his violative mojo, Nick Suzuki brought it successful a large way. He got his archetypal extremity of the play successful the archetypal period, but it was the 2nd play marker that was axenic Suzuki. He bushed 2 defenders, past did a resistance determination connected the goalie that ne'er dragged, but conscionable kept moving guardant until helium had an unfastened net. It was gorgeous.

Josh Anderson assisted connected the archetypal extremity for the Canadiens with a superb puck-battle triumph past walk to Suzuki, but it’s his antiaircraft effort that is notable. Anderson is back-checking with strength and becoming a much implicit subordinate than helium was before. His enactment connected the punishment termination is beardown arsenic well.

It doesn’t substance what the people is, what the period is, what the nagging wounded presumption is, Brendan Gallagher is going to enactment his process disconnected for the Canadiens. In the 2nd period, helium simply would not beryllium stopped arsenic helium bulldozed his mode to extremity to gully a penalty.

Oliver Kapanen continues to hint that helium whitethorn beryllium a beardown NHL 3rd enactment centre. In the 2nd period, helium drove to the nett hard, weaving done 2 Rangers to get a changeable connected goal. It didn’t materialize successful a hard save, but the quality to bushed defenders and the guts to onslaught the nett are a bully sign.

Wilde Goats 

Everything that could spell incorrect did spell incorrect successful the archetypal 10 minutes of the contest. After Montreal had a bully chance, the Rangers went close backmost down crystal and scored lone 54 seconds in. The portion sum was abysmal. There were unfastened Rangers everywhere.

Just implicit a infinitesimal later, the Rangers dumped the puck down ice. Jayden Struble and Logan Mailloux thought it was an icing call. They some skated nonchalantly to the puck, but determination was nary whistle. It was the easiest extremity imaginable arsenic 2 Rangers hooked up with the 2 Montreal bluish liners doing thing connected the play, but looking astatine each different successful confusion.

Four minutes later, the Canadiens made an effort to get backmost successful the game. Lane Hutson tried to dangle his mode down ice, but was stripped of the puck arsenic the past antheral backmost successful the neutral zone. Reilly Smith went successful each unsocial to marque it 3-0 New York.

The Canadiens past gave up the archetypal powerfulness play of the contest, and New York scored connected that arsenic good with a gorgeous 3 mode passing play. It was a rout. Four goals connected 9 shots. Samuel Montembeault exited successful favour of Cayden Primeau. Game over.

Wilde Cards

It’s clip for a reset to the 2024-25 season. Not a reset of the hopes for the agelong future, but a reset of what is close successful beforehand of america arsenic we see what the Montreal Canadiens tin execute this year.

Before the play began, expectations were high. Management kept utilizing the operation ‘in the mix,’ suggesting that the Canadiens whitethorn beryllium warring for a playoff spot done retired the season.

The lynchpin was the 2nd line. Hopes were that Patrik Laine would find the signifier that gave him 44 goals successful his champion season. There was anticipation that Kirby Dach would retrieve from a immense genu reconstruction to beryllium a force. The anticipation was that Alex Newhook would travel on for the ride.

All 3 of those hopes person been dashed aboriginal successful this season. Instead of the imagination of a 70-goal line, we person a 2nd enactment with 1 extremity this year, and absorption saying that Dach is going to request immoderate time. However, the 2nd enactment is not wherever the biggest mistakes person been made successful our expectations.

The existent situation that was missed is however agelong it takes for defenders to larn their craft. The mean property of a victor of the Norris Trophy for champion defender is 28.3 years. Experience is king connected the bluish line. Look astatine Mike Matheson who leapt a level astatine the property of 29.

Collectively, we are each acold excessively hard connected the Canadiens bluish line, asking for results that conscionable bash not travel astatine their acquisition level. It takes 200 to 300 games for a defender to find their champion selves. It takes the property of 26 for a bluish liner to commencement to power the crippled smartly.

The players that we are each impatient with are inactive truthful young that we request to bash a reboot connected our expectations for them.

Lane Hutson is 20. Justin Barron is 22. Arber Xhekaj is 23. Kaiden Guhle is 22. Jayden Struble is 23. Logan Mailloux is 21. This full radical is not adjacent adjacent to their ceiling. They’ve hardly gotten started connected their careers. They are each six of them from 5 to 8 years distant from their highest powerfulness successful the league.

It is frustrating to beryllium much patient. It is hard to ticker losses. It is hard to spot them larn their lessons close successful beforehand of our eyes. The rebuild is going well. It’s conscionable not going arsenic rapidly arsenic was hoped.

It whitethorn not adjacent beryllium adjacent play that they leap up the standings. The defenders volition inactive beryllium young adjacent twelvemonth and the twelvemonth aft that. Add to that, much caller players with large endowment volition get similar Ivan Demidov and Michael Hage. They excessively volition request their seasoning.

NHL maturity is simply a process. It’s a agelong process. It’s wherefore this metropolis ne'er did a existent rebuild, but has enactment bandages connected problems since 1993. This is simply a existent rebuild. It’s being done with intent and intelligence. The astute mode isn’t ever the casual mode successful life.

The astute mode successful hockey has a batch of sacrifice successful it. And truthful it goes…

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