Colin White: 63 consecutive scoreless games (NHL)

The Habs have become accustomed to making waivers that turn out to be “magical” for the club: Paul Byron, Samuel Montembeault, Johnathan Kovacevic, Rem Pitlick…

Even Brad Staubitz was no worse in 2012, when he was called up to finish the season with the club (in a totally lost cause).

Except that not all the players called up by the Tricolore for the waivers have flourished in Montreal. Quite the contrary, in fact!

On February 22, Kent Hughes claimed his former client Colin White in the waivers… and we’re still waiting to see on the ice why the Habs’ GM made such a claim.

In 17 games with the Habs, White hasn’t collected a single point. Now that’s something!

Especially since he hadn’t picked up a goal or an assist in 11 games with the Penguins before that!

If you add up his regular-season AND playoff games, Scott Gomez Colin White has now gone 63 consecutive games without finding the back of the net in the NHL. 63 !!!!!!!

His last goal came on March 16, 2023 (against the Canadiens). So it’s been over a year since he’s scored an NHL goal.

Two weeks ago, I wrote an article entitled ” Christian Dvorak: more useless than that, you die “. Now, I think I’ve found someone who could be more useless than Dvorak…

Since ‘everything’ is always ‘everything’, White was left out last night to allow Dvorak to regain his place in the line-up… and score two goals.

Let’s just say the Habs didn’t miss White yesterday…

Note that Michael Pezzetta and Jesse Ylonen have often been part of a rotation with White in recent weeks. If I had to keep just one of these three forwards next season, it would definitely be Pezzetta. How about you?

That said, the person who told me yesterday that Arber Xhekaj’s future in Montreal was uncertain also mentioned that it was the same for Pezzetta.

As we all know, Martin St-Louis doesn’t trip that much over the “tough guys“…

Jeff Gorton lost his job in New York because he didn’t have enough toughness in his line-up…

Are we currently making the mistake of underestimating the importance of “toughness” in the NHL?

In closing, Colin White has a $775,000 contract that expires on July 1. He will then be eligible for full autonomy. Hopefully, Kent Hughes won’t want to extend the association with his former client, and White will only have passed through Montreal (to fill a jersey a couple of dozen times)…

White reminds me of the spring of Dwight King, Brandon Davidson, Andreas Martinsen and Steve Ott… only worse! We don’t need Colin White in the famous rebuilding plan. Otherwise, it’s a bad sign…

Emil Heineman disappoints in Laval
When the Habs traded Tyler Toffoli to Calgary – Kent Hughes’ first trade as GM of the team – many thought that Emil Heineman had what it took to perform well in Montreal/Laval.

Even though he had already been traded once (by the Panthers)…

A year later, Heineman left Europe and made the leap to North America… scoring 7 goals and 2 assists in 11 games in his Rocket debut.

But things have gone downhill since then. He has just 26 points in 44 games this season in the AHL, playing more often than not on the first or second line (with the team’s best offensive players).

During his short recall with the Habs, he was blanked in four games… and didn’t even get a single shot on goal in those four games.

Right now, with the Rocket in the midst of a playoff race, Heineman hasn’t scored in his last six games.

I’ve talked to people who follow the activities of the Habs’ club-school and they’ve all told me that there’s clearly been a regression/disappointment regarding Heineman. We’re starting to wonder about Heineman’s true identity on Montreal’s North Shore.

Has the physical game and small North American rinks finally gone to his head? Is it just a bad patch? Is he feeling the effects of his concussions? I don’t know.

Heineman is under contract for one more full season in 2024-25. He will then be eligible for restricted autonomy. Does he have a future in the Montreal organization? Nothing is less certain, unfortunately.