Montreal Canadiens' Crowded Blueline

Montreal Canadiens General Manager, Marc Bergevin, may have some tough decisions to make, and he may have to make them pretty soon. The Canadiens are off to a perfect start in the regular season, as they just broke a franchise record by earning five wins in a row to start a season. Their most recent win was a 3-0 victory against Eastern Conference rivals, the New York Rangers. Unfortunately for the Habs and their management, not everything is as perfect as their record currently is.

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The Habs currently have eight defencemen up with the big club, and the unfortunate reality is that only six of those eight can play in each game. This leaves the management and coaching staff with a few options: they can trade a defenceman (or two), they can waive their extra defencemen and hope that they aren’t claimed by another team, or they can continue to sit two defencemen per game.

The issue here is; the two defencemen that are currently sitting, Jarred Tinordi and Greg Pateryn are both promising, young and have a lot of potential. There are many similarities between the two, but the one similarity that should concern Habs management is that both Tinordi and Pateryn need ice time to be able to properly develop into steady NHL defencemen. Though there are some other similarities, their stories are much different.

Nov 2, 2014; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens defenseman Jarred Tinordi (24) before the game against Calgary Flames at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports

First off is Jarred Tinordi. Tinordi hasn’t earned himself a solidified spot in the Canadiens lineup thus far in his career. However, this year, Tinordi remains with the big club, and will probably end up staying with the NHL team, unless a move is made.

Tinordi is most likely the eighth defenceman on the Canadiens depth chart, so why keep him with the club? Well, if G.M. Bergevin was to send Tinordi down to the minors, he must first clear waivers. Tinordi was the Habs’ first-round draft selection in 2010, and he hasn’t yet had an opportunity to become comfortable at the NHL level, as his stints with the Canadiens in previous years were always short. The Habs don’t want to give up on their young defenceman just yet, as Tinordi has lots of potential upside. He is 6’6 and can play a rough and tough shutdown defensive style. Unfortunately for the Canadiens, these are assets that many teams around the league covet. So for now, the Canadiens can’t send Tinordi down, as long as they want to keep him wearing red, white and blue.

The other defenceman that isn’t seeing any game time yet this season, is Greg Pateryn. The difference between Pateryn and Tinordi, is that last season, Pateryn earned his spot with the Canadiens. He ended up playing 17 games in the regular season and added another 7 in the playoffs. Tinordi played 13 regular season games and no playoff games in 2014-15. Near the end of the season, it seemed that Pateryn had earned his roster spot, and the trust of his coach, Michel Therrien which is something that Tinordi couldn’t do. Since Tinordi didn’t earn coach Therrien’s trust last season, he was sent down to the AHL. Pateryn only had three assists in all of his games in 2014-15, but he played steady bottom pairing minutes, he hit opponents hard, and made very few mistakes considering he was a rookie.

Greg Pateryn, 25, is waiting for his opportunity to solidify a spot in the Canadiens’ top 6. Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

Pateryn (who was 24 last season), was an older rookie who had spent enough time in the AHL to have been able to fully develop and prepare for NHL action. After his impressive stint with the big club last season, Pateryn deserves a roster spot this year. The only issue is, there’s no room for him in the top six. The top six this year consists of Andrei Markov, P.K. Subban, Alexei Emelin, Jeff Petry, Tom Gilbert and Nathan Beaulieu. All six have more NHL experience than both Pateryn and Tinordi, and are played on a more consistent basis than the two young defencemen.

Habs G.M. Marc Bergevin is a firm believer that a team “can never have too many defencemen.” He has stated this in multiple press conferences and interviews over the last couple of years. The problem is, sitting these two young, promising defencemen is a waste of talent. Not to mention that Tinordi and Pateryn sitting in the press box doesn’t help them grow as NHL players.

When looking at the current top six though, there are a couple of question marks. Andrei Markov‘s health and durability is something that has been brought in to question quite frequently. It was very evident that he slowed down substantially near the end of the 2014-15 season, to the point where he looked like a completely different player by the time playoffs rolled around.

People also tend to question Alexei Emelin‘s hockey IQ and overall ability, however, thus far this season (though the sample may be small), he has played extremely steady, Emelin-esque defence.

Nathan Beaulieu solidified his spot in the top six last season, but his partner, Tom Gilbert, could be a big factor in the future of either Pateryn or Tinordi. Gilbert is most likely to be traded by the Canadiens. Popular opinion suggests that Emelin should be the one to go, but it isn’t always easy moving a contract that is worth over 4 million dollars annually. Gilbert‘s contract, however, carries a cap hit of 2.8 million dollars, and only lasts until 2016-17.

Oct 3, 2015; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Montreal Canadiens defenseman Tom Gilbert (77) tries to settle the puck in the first period against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports

The question that only Marc Bergevin and the Montreal Canadiens management could answer, then, is what they will do with their two young defencemen. The chances of either of them being sent down to St. Johns of the AHL are pretty slim. So the Habs can either trade a defenceman, or keep the two youngsters in the press box, and have a backup plan for any potential injuries that could occur through the gruelling 82 game schedule. Knowing Bergevin’s “never too many defencemen” strategy, it is most likely that the Canadiens will sit tight for now. Another thing that can’t be forgotten, is that the Habs are off to a 5-0 start in their regular season, and the chemistry that they have developed, and continue to develop, is something that the management probably doesn’t want to mess with.

Greg Pateryn and Jarred Tinordi shouldn’t be sitting in the press box at this stage in their young careers. The decision of what to do with these defencemen will be made by people who know what they’re doing, so all that Habs fans can do for now, is sit back and wait.

Nov 11, 2014; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin speaks at a press conference before the game against the Winnipeg Jets at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

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