The Colorado Avalanche and the Tampa Bay Lightning are two perfect examples of how to build winning teams in the current National Hockey League (NHL) reality, which is by draft. In doing so, they show how far the Canadians still have to go to reach this level.
It’s not complicated, all key players of both teams were designed and developed within the organization.
In Denver, the Avalanche made it with Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Cale Makar and Gabriel Landeskog.
It’s the same in Tampa: Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman, Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov, Andrei Vasilevksiy and so on are the team’s draft picks.
After that, a good general manager manages to add the missing elements through transactions or signings in the free agent market.
THIN RELIEF
On the other hand, you can’t build a successful team that will last if you haven’t raised your star players within your organization.
Last year, the Canadian reached the Stanley Cup finals with a team that was built primarily through transactions or contract signings.
This year he finished 32nd and last in the NHL.
We can’t exactly say that the team has a core of young players who were drafted by the Canadian. At the moment I only count Cole Caufield and Alexander Romanov in the key players drafted by CH category.
This will soon be followed by the overall first choice, which is still very thin.
For general manager Kent Hughes, the work has only just begun.
NEW CHAPTER
At least it seems like the first chapter of a new era was written on Thursday when Hughes traded Shea Weber’s contract with the Vegas Golden Knights for forward Evgenii Dadonov.
In the end, the Canadian will have nothing to blame himself for in dealing with the situation of his now former captain. On the other hand, we cannot say that it was mutual. Although he remained the team’s captain, Weber always refused to speak to the Montreal media and, incidentally, to Montreal hockey fans.
I hope the ‘C’ on his jersey has already been cut open and we’ll give it to Nick Suzuki.
Now only Carey Price and Jeff Petry’s cases have to be settled before we can officially say that the Canadian is entering a new era.
BRAVO TO THE ROCKET
While he’s still a long way from NHL forces, the Canadian still has some positives to eat. His school club, the Laval Rocket, had a remarkable playoff career and still got playoff fever among Montreal hockey fans.
I want to congratulate their head coach, Jean-François Houle, who seems to have pushed all the right buttons to unite this team.
If you look at Rocket’s roster, there are very few players who will have great careers in the NHL.
That is also the job of an American Hockey League coach. You have to be able to unite both the players pushing for a place at the big club and the veterans who know their chance will never come.
– Interview by Kevin Dubé
Echoes of Bergie
CONGRATULATIONS TO KATARACT
The Shawinigan Cataractes won their first President’s Cup in 53 years of existence. First of all, I would like to congratulate the team’s General Manager, Martin Mondou, who has been in office since 2007. He’s certainly not had all happy moments since taking office, and it takes passion to stay that long. Congratulations also to their head coach, Daniel Renaud, who rose from a tough defeat in the final last year when he was at the helm of the Val-d’Or Foreurs. And what about young Mavrik Bourque, who I only hear good comments about. I’m very happy for Shawinigan and his fans. When I was leading the Draveurs de Trois-Rivières, Shawinigan was our greatest opponent. There was action when we faced them! To be honest, our confrontations prepared me for what awaited me later, namely the Canada-Nordic rivalry.
FORGET LETANG
Many still dream of seeing Kristopher Letang in Montreal. To them I would say forget it. In Pittsburgh we seem to want to keep Letang and Evgeni Malkin with the penguins. Apparently Sidney Crosby will talk to the two and convince them to stay. After everything they’ve been through together, I think they want to end their careers in black and yellow uniforms. General Manager Ron Hextall has publicly mentioned that he wants to keep the two veterans and, we’re told, the Penguins want to settle the Letang file before Malkin. This is a sign of gratitude towards him.
HAPPY RETIREMENT, PETER
Pierre Bruneau hosted his last show on Thursday evening. I can only wish him the best in his retirement. I have had the great privilege of working with him for several years and I have always admired his exemplary professionalism. What a gentleman he is. I will always remember when I led the Nordiques. Pierre had come into the team’s dressing room with his son Charles. The latter was a big fan of our team and had taken photos with the players. In another way, I would also like to congratulate Martin Lafleur, Guy’s son, on his commitment to CHUM to continue his father’s work. He wants to keep being involved in the community like Guy did and that’s to his credit.
