Hockey

Digital disadvantage: Martin St-Louis’s new plan is not viable in the long term
Félix Forget
Digital disadvantage: Martin St-Louis’s new plan is not viable in the long term
Credit: Screenshot/Twitter

Yesterday, we learned that the Canadiens would be without the services of Alex Newhook for the next four months. It's a big loss from the point of view that he played some great hockey this season, but also from the point of view that he had established himself as an important element on the power play.

He was one of those who had to step up after the departure of Christian Dvorak and Joel Armia, and he did.

Finding a way to replace Newhook at 5-on-5 is one thing. Replacing him on the short-handed is quite another.

And this morning, Martin St-Louis talked about his plan to do just that: he intends to rely on Nick Suzuki and Joe Veleno to get the job done.

Except that this plan doesn't really seem viable in the long term.

Suzuki's case is probably the most problematic. The captain is more than capable of holding his own one-man short-handed… except that if he has to take on the task of playing shorthanded, his 5-on-5 playing time will have to be reduced… which is really, really not ideal.

All the more so since playing shorthanded adds to his injury burden. He may have the reputation of being a man of iron, but this is a plan to drive him straight into the wall.

Veleno, in fact, seems a more logical choice considering his advanced stats show he's no villain defensively. That said, overall, it's been tough for him this season, and we've been talking about him as a guy the club would ideally like to get out of the line-up.

He's kind of the best default option right now (especially since he's done it in the past), but does it really make sense to be all-in on this? I doubt it.

Either way, the Habs could really afford to use some backup to help the club's numerical disadvantage. We know the club loves David Kämpf, who could check off quite a few boxes… and who, in the worst-case scenario, will at least serve to squeeze Suzuki out of the numerical disadvantage.

But whether it's Kämpf or someone else, we're going to need reinforcements… because right now, options are getting scarce. Above all, they're not viable in the long term, especially if another of the regulars should fall to the sword.


Overtime

– I like it.

– Touching.

– Interesting.

– This is… special.

– Beautiful news.

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