Canucks: How do they compare to the Montreal Canadiens? (Part 2)
It’s been said time and time again, but the Vancouver Canucks aren’t equipped to be a playoff contender just yet.
The team finished the 2020-21 season with a 23-29-4 record, good for 24th in the league and dead last in the Scotia North Division.
Despite the low point total, however, the Canucks actually weren’t too far back from the fourth and final playoff spot in the all-Canadian division. As we know, that spot eventually went to the Montreal Canadiens, who, despite finishing just nine points ahead of Vancouver, were ultimately able to put their mediocre season behind them at the most important time. To almost everyone’s surprise, the Canadiens stormed past the Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets in the first two rounds, and are now representing Canada in the final four of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Currently, the Canadiens are down 1-0 to the Vegas Golden Knights, with many people believing that this team’s miraculous postseason run is about to come an abrupt halt. Despite the game one loss, here’s still lots of hockey left to be played between these two teams, and you can’t rule out either of them until mathematical elimination prevails.
No matter how this series end, though, there’s no denying that the Canadiens took charge of their postseason journey, carrying their underdog momentum as far as it would take them, which poses the question:
How do the Canucks stack up against the Habs right now?
We previously looked at the goaltending, comparing Carey Price and Thatcher Demko between the pipes. Today, we’re taking a deeper dive into the forward groups.
Forwards
This is an interesting one for the Canucks and the Canadiens.
On paper, both teams are actually structured pretty similarly in terms of youth and speed. The Canucks’ top-six is very much on the rise, led by centremen Elias Pettersson and Bo Horvat, and winger Brock Boeser. The Canadiens have also been relying on their youth, specifically the services of Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi down the middle, as well as budding star Cole Caufield on the flank.
Frankly, it’s hard to find too many differences between the top-six forward groups, aside from how each management group landed these players. Benning has been quite successful in his drafting over the past few years, selecting both Pettersson and Boeser in the first round of their respective drafts. He also had Horvat already in the prospect system when he was hired by Vancouver in 2014.
The Canadiens, on the other hand, have dabbled in quite a few areas of player acquisition and development. GM Marc Bergevin did select Kotkaniemi third overall in 2018, ahead of more notable forward prospects like Brady Tkachuk and Garrett Hayton. He also snagged Caufield 15th overall in 2020, which is beginning to look like a steal, despite Caufield’s small stature.
Outside of those two players, Bergevin had to be aggressive and bold to find his other young stars. He received Suzuki from Vegas, after dealing former captain Max Pacioretty the other way. Forward Tomas Tatar was also included in that deal, which has paid off well for Bergevin. Tatar did recently hit 30, but that hasn’t slowed him down too much. Since coming to Montreal, Tatar has registered 57 goals and 92 assists in 198 games, and even led the team in scoring during the 2019-20 season.
More recently, he signed free agent and former Canuck Tyler Toffoli to a four-year, $17 million deal, which is already looking like a bargain. He also traded away Max Domi, who led the team in scoring during the 2018-19 season, to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for power forward Josh Andersen. Like Toffoli, Andersen fit in quite nicely with the Canadiens. The 27-year-old recorded 17 goals and 24 points, good for fifth in team scoring.
As mentioned, both teams are carrying their own strengths, so why does Montreal have the overall edge? In reality, it comes down to two things.