Josh Anderson thinks the Canadiens’ penalty kill is heading in a new direction, and he likes the feel of it.
Montreal is coming off a regular season in which its penalty kill sat at 78.2%, good for 18th in the league, then dipped slightly to 78.1% in the playoffs. That wasn’t a disaster, but it left room for real improvement, especially with the Atlantic Division race so tight that a better penalty kill might have been enough to help the Canadiens edge past the Sabres and Lightning.
Now Derek Lalonde is in the mix, and the PK is expected to look different right away. On Wednesday, players talked about what that shift could mean, including a broader workload for more skaters.
Jake Evans said the new approach could be more demanding: "I think the way we're going to be killing it, it might get a little bit more fatiguing," Evans said. "So if you always have guys ready and even if you have to use them, guys knowing what they have to do, if they need to get out there, it's a good idea."
Anderson echoed that sense of change when asked about how the minutes might be spread around. "It's a little different system than what we're used to, but I kind of like what [Derek Lalonde] has brought to our team with the PK being a little bit more aggressive," Anderson said.
Lalonde arrived in Montreal in July after not being retained on the Toronto Maple Leafs’ new staff under Jim Hiller. Toronto had a rough season overall, but its penalty kill held up, finishing eighth in the NHL.
His track record has been mixed in other stops. Lalonde’s penalty kill groups didn’t reach the same level during his two-and-a-half seasons as head coach of the Red Wings, but before that he spent four seasons as an assistant with the Tampa Bay Lightning. During that stretch, Tampa Bay finished in the top half of the league in penalty kill percentage every year and cracked the Top 5 twice.
The Canadiens do have pieces that fit the job. Evans, Anderson, Phillip Danault and Mike Matheson all logged more than 100 minutes on the penalty kill last season. Montreal could also work in players such as Zachary Bolduc or Florian Xhekaj, if Xhekaj wins a roster spot out of training camp, and possibly Selke Trophy winner Nick Suzuki.
After a deep playoff run, the bar is higher in Montreal. If the Canadiens are going to meet those expectations, getting the penalty kill moving in the right direction will matter a lot.
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Scheifele would not be a short-term patch, either, with a deal that runs through 2030-31 and a recent season that reminded everyone why he remains such an attractive target. Any conversation of this sort naturally turns to what Montreal would have to move the other way, and the names floating around underline the kind of price the Canadiens may need to consider if they want to change their center picture quickly. [Read more 🡒]