Rebuilding: Michel Therrien doesn’t think Habs management is satisfied

For the past few years, the Habs have had a clear focus: they’re concentrating on the future and rebuilding their core to become a powerhouse in the relatively near future. Many veterans have left (in fact, a huge number of the players who were with the team in the Stanley Cup Final in the summer of 2021 are no longer in town), and they want to make room for the youngsters.

Some are already in town (Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovský, Kaiden Guhle and so on), and more are on the way (Lane Hutson, David Reinbacher and so on).

That said, this season is still a difficult one for the club. There are some good moments, but overall, we feel that the core is not yet ready to mature.

That doesn’t particularly surprise me… but it doesn’t seem to be the case for everyone.

For Michel Therrien, for example, the fact that it’s still difficult for the club is not a good sign. In fact, the former coach goes so far as to say that the Tricolore are “regressing” this season.

[OPINION] Let’s face it: the Habs are regressing | Michel Therrien’s columnhttps://t.co/FW2XfIa0Qa

– Le Journal de Montréal (@JdeMontreal) December 13, 2023

And for Therrien, it’s a worrying sign. In fact, in his opinion, it wouldn’t have been so bad if Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield had been injured, but the fact that the club’s two best players are in the line-up and are having problems is worrying.

He doesn’t want to hear the injury excuse… but at the same time, the absences of guys like Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook are objectively hurting the team. And ideally, these are two guys who will play an important role in the Canadiens’ future.

But all this leads Therrien to say that he finds it hard to believe that Habs management is really satisfied with the direction of the rebuild so far.

It’s not perfect, of course (even Kent Hughes has admitted that injuries worry him about the development of young players), but right now, the Habs don’t have Dach, Newhook, Hutson and Reinbacher in their line-up. And going forward, those are four guys who could help the Tricolore.

Is the rebuild going fast enough? Everyone has an opinion on that, but I have to admit I’m not ready to panic just yet. If it’s still the case in a year or two, we can worry, but let’s let things fall into place on their own.

In brief

– David Reinbacher: his man-to-man coverage is tough this season.

Beyond his timing against rushes, the one blatant thing with Reinbacher this season is how lost he is playing man on man defense, following an opponent up in the zone then not knowing what to do.
Man on man is awful on big ices and a thing of the past. New coach might help. https://t.co/TyYXlwXiFy

– Thibaud Chatel (@Thibaud_Chatel) December 13, 2023

– To be continued.

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