Canadiens Market Pressures Force New Draft Strategies

After six seasons with the Canadiens, Drouin was able to walk away as an unrestricted free agent (UFA) and signed a one-year deal with the Colorado Avalanche this past offseason. Since leaving, his ability to produce has returned, with 14 goals and 46 points in 68 games played, which puts him on pace for 53 points this season, which would match his career high in points. He’s been healthy all season, and more importantly able to focus on hockey without the pressure. 

Drouin took a leave of absence from the Canadiens during the 2021 season, missing the entire playoff run to the Stanley Cup Final. He later revealed that he was battling severe anxiety. You may say to yourself “But that’s just one player.” But that pressure is universal for Canadiens players. Phillip Danault is another good example as he explained how hard it is to avoid the pitfalls of listening to the outside voices adding pressure saying, “It’s easy to say I don’t hear anything, but eventually you can’t help but hear things, even if you know those things already,” Danault said. “Hockey players are already demanding enough on ourselves, but when it’s not going well, we get criticized and it becomes even tougher to bounce back. We take it personally sometimes.” And soon after that, he chose to leave and signed with the Los Angeles Kings.  

Canadiens Face Social Media Pressures 

If you have spent any time on social media, you know it’s rare to find nuanced, reasoned discussions. So, if any player makes the mistake of reading the comments on any post about them, they’ll be given an example of the asinine things that are said when people can hide in anonymity. Because of this, things can be downright toxic in a market as dedicated as Montreal, and this burden now falls onto the 2022 first-overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky.  

Slafkovsky had some on social media calling him a bust earlier in the season. His sin? Not having been an immediate superstar at age 18. Even though he added an assist in the team’s 70th game of the season, this one versus Colorado, and has set the 115-year-old club’s record for most points by a teenager in one season. 

The Canadiens head coach, Martin St. Louis is well aware of the issues social media can create for today’s young players.  

“It’s not easy for a young 19-year-old to not hear about it, not be exposed to it with all the media in Montreal. Sometimes it’s not fair. Everyone is talking about the fact that he’s in traffic and his missed exits, it’s not easy for a kid who’s 19, so we’re trying to help him with that.”

– Martin St. Louis 

Advocating for them to ignore the traps that technology can bring and instead focus on their own game is good advice, but there is more to it than just deleting their accounts and not reading comments.

Canadiens’ New Draft Strategy 

Since Hughes’ arrival as the Canadiens’ GM, he’s had the responsibility to rebuild the franchise into a true Cup-contending team. It’s more than just trading and signing the best players. This club needed a full reset. In that vein, he has chosen to focus on the draft and development model.  

It’s almost a cliche now with the draft, everyone wants the “best player available” (BPA) but sometimes a club needs to place value on certain aspects that make a player the BPA for them. Being a teenager, having the spotlight shone on you is hard. Being under the microscope as the first overall pick for the Canadiens and selected in Montreal is harder. This is why Hughes has chosen to focus on specific character strengths when selecting players. 

“…part of our evaluation we’re not just evaluating hockey players, we’re evaluating character, we’re trying to evaluate their ability to deal with that type of pressure on a consistent basis.”

– Kent Hughes 

Not every player has his physical abilities or talent or has the willingness or ability to learn and build on their weaknesses instinctively as he does. Slafkovsky has proven in his short time in the NHL that he has fun playing the game, but the focus is to work hard on improving himself, and that he is confident without being arrogant. More importantly, he has the desire to be a difference-maker. 

These traits emanate from the players the Canadiens have drafted over the last two seasons. Owen Beck, Lane Hutson, David Reinbacher, and Jacob Fowler are perfect examples of this strategy taken by Hughes and his staff. This could be part of why some of the team’s picks seem as if they are “off the board” for some fans as the team looks for the BPA that fits the market, not necessarily the draft lists built by those outside their draft room and without the full data set the Canadiens use. 

After decades of mediocrity, especially in an ability to develop their draft picks into impactful NHL talent, Montreal needed a new plan of action. This is where the hiring of a player agent, someone who is well acquainted with identifying these traits was so important. Adapt or die, it’s more than a cool slogan, it was a long-awaited change to allow the NHL’s original franchise to give it a chance to win a 25^th Cup and rediscover its relevance.