Alexandre Texier has been left out of the last four games.

Jonathan Di Gregorio
Alexandre Texier has been left out of the last four games.
Credit: Capture d'écran/NHL.com

Unbeknownst to most, Alexandre Texier has been left out of the CH's last four games, even though he is in perfect health and the team has played two games in 24 hours.

The forward hasn't played since February 26 against the Islanders, even though he had an assist in that game.

Texier also missed the three games before the Olympic break due to a supposed injury, even though he was healthy enough to play for France.

Stu Cowan discussed the situation before Friday's game with Chris Nilan and Rick Green on the Montreal Hockey Inside/Out podcast, wondering if Kent Hughes had been too quick to offer Texier a contract extension.

Personally, this is a question I've been asking myself since the contract was signed.

Like pretty much everyone else, I was pleasantly surprised by Texier's performance when he arrived with 16 points, including 7 goals, in his first 25 games in Montreal.

A player we got for free managed to complement the first line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caulfield and offered a short-term solution to our numerous injuries at the time.

However, the key word here is short term, as I have never seen Texier as a medium/long-term option.

As we've seen, the Frenchman has a lot of offensive talent and has not yet reached his full potential, but I don't think that even at his best, he is a top-6 forward, at least not on a team that wants to compete for major honors in the near future.

Furthermore, I don't think his style of play is suited to the NHL's bottom six, mainly because of his lack of physicality, as Chris Nilan points out.

This is also an aspect of his game that could be problematic in the playoffs, especially given that the Canadiens wanted to be tougher to play against.

I kind of feel like Texier isn't good enough for the top two lines and is too tough for the bottom two.

Could the French forward's contract be the first bad signing by the Habs' management?

Only time will tell, but with a two-year, $2.5 million per year contract, at least it's not one that could hurt the Habs in the long run.

However, for now, Texier is watching games from the stands with Patrik Laine, and there's no indication when he'll return to play.


In brief

– The starting XI.

— It's been a long time coming.

— Lions double their lead.

– A standing ovation for his return.

— And a beautiful play.

— What a pass!

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