Losses piling up will help Canadiens’ rebuild, but quiet trade deadline won’t

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TORONTO — It was one other hard-fought loss for the Montreal Canadiens, a decent effort from a very depleted staff, a battle to the tip in opposition to a Toronto Maple Leafs facet that added two centres an evening prior in one of many greatest trades made this season. It made this an unwinnable warfare, and that’s all you would actually ask for.

It’s that kind of consequence you must pray for from right here to the tip in the event you’re a Canadiens fan, as a result of it’s actually the one different means this rebuild will be served between now and the tip of April.

The tradition that coach Martin St. Louis hoped to instill at the start of the season is wholesome and established, younger gamers have developed and are persevering with to develop, and all of that has led the staff to win 23 video games and compete in a number of greater than they have been anticipated to earlier than the primary of those 56 was performed.

It’s what led the Canadiens to maintain pushing on this 5-1 loss, even late within the third interval on Saturday.

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“We’ve 10 NHL gamers not enjoying,” reminded St. Louis, and it’s onerous to disregard who’s amongst them.

Sean Monahan represented the Canadiens’ best alternative to recoup one other first-round choose, but his two-and-a-half-month absence with a lower-body damage has rendered that dream situation unrealizable.

Earlier on Saturday, St. Louis mentioned Monahan, who’s been skating with the staff over the previous week, has “plateaued” in his rehabilitation of his damage. “We’ll see what subsequent week brings,” he added, making it open-ended at greatest he’ll be capable to play the 5 video games between now and the deadline, not to mention present nicely sufficient in them to spice up his inventory considerably.

If Monahan’s progress has stalled, what’s to say of Joel Edmundson’s?

The six-foot-five, 221-pound defenceman represented a precious trade chip earlier than struggling an upper-body damage early in a sport in opposition to the Detroit Purple Wings on Jan. 26, and he hasn’t been in a position to do something but skate on his personal since. Groups that have been leery of his wonky again previous to that haven’t precisely had their fears quelled by this newest developments.

Nobody is blowing up common supervisor Kent Hughes’ telephone for Jonathan Drouin, even when the expert winger has put up 11 factors in his final 12 video games.

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The participant is doing every part he can to spice up his worth — not solely to make himself enticing to playoff-bound groups but to earn himself a brand new contract after this one (which counts for $5.5 million on the cap this season) expires — but he’s nonetheless goal-less on the season after not changing on one his seven pictures in opposition to the Maple Leafs.

Hughes will strive as onerous as he can to maneuver Mike Hoffman, who has 10 factors in his final 12 video games and had three Grade-A possibilities so as to add to these totals in opposition to Toronto.

But with the participant’s $4.5-million cap hit lasting by means of the tip of subsequent season, which may show inconceivable.

That Evgenii Dadonov represents Hughes’ greatest alternative to make one thing occur on the trade market over the following two weeks is a far cry from the place this all might’ve gone earlier than the season began. It’s not just like the Canadiens have been ever going to be on the opposite finish of a deal just like the one the St. Louis Blues made with Toronto on Friday to acquire Adam Gaudette, Mikhail Abramov and first-, second-, and third-round picks for pending unrestricted free brokers Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari, but there was some actual promise to have the ability to flip a few of what that they had into belongings that might help advance their rebuild.

But, hey, issues not often prove as anticipated.

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The season going because it has so far is a primary instance of that, and the Canadiens are grateful on that finish.

They’ve constructed one thing in the way in which they’ve competed, and that will be precious to them down the road. So will the steps ahead so a lot of their younger gamers have taken to this point.

And the Canadiens will preserve pushing ahead on these fronts, even with the losses prone to pile up far more than they’ve thus far.

“We’ve gotta preserve constructive with the place we’re and what number of younger gamers we have now,” mentioned Drouin. “We wish to ensure everybody’s on the proper web page and everybody’s feeling good for a sport. We’re going to have some large video games in opposition to some actually good groups.”

Profitable will show elusive for the Canadiens, with so a lot of their gamers nowhere close to able to return to help them navigate the unforgiving schedule forward.

It’ll preserve the Canadiens on the street for six of their subsequent seven video games. They’ll journey to New Jersey and Philadelphia, after which to San Jose, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Las Vegas and again. They’ll play 16 video games over the 31 days of March. And, trying on the complete image, they’ll play extra video games in opposition to the NHL’s prime groups than every other staff within the league will from right here to the tip.

They’ll attempt to win with out anticipating to.

“Simply be engaged as a participant and preserve engaged on the issues that we’re speaking about and constructing our model and the way in which we wish to play,” mentioned St. Louis. “There’s issues that we’ve constructed all through the season and simply keep true to these. That’s what we concentrate on. That’s the extent of expectation I’ve when it comes to how we wish to play.

“Are we going to win? I’m unsure, but the way you measure success within the state of affairs we’re proper now’s simply preserve constructing for what we wish to appear like.”

Even in Thursday’s 6-2 loss to Carolina and Saturday’s 5-1 loss to Toronto, the Canadiens did that.

Additionally they elevated their possibilities of tumbling additional down the standings, which they’re prone to do at the very least a bit extra earlier than the season ends.

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