You have to go back to 1968 to find the last time a team had back-to-back winners of the Calder Trophy. That’s when Boston Bruins centre Derek Sanderson took the honour, a year after defenceman Bobby Orr was the rookie of the year.
The Canadiens are in a position to match that achievement. They have two strong candidates to follow Lane Hutson.
Ivan Demidov, the ultra-talented Russian, was the rookie of the year in the KHL last season and was touted as a Calder favourite before the first puck was dropped this season. He has lived up to the hype, taking the early lead in the rookie scoring race.
But he might find himself with competition from Jakub Dobes, who is at least temporarily the Canadiens’ No. 1 goaltender.
Samuel Montembeault, who started the season as the undisputed No. 1, has had a shaky start with a 2-3 record, a 3.82 goals-against average and an .842 save percentage. That opened the door for Dobes, who ranks among the elite goalies in the NHL with a 6-0 record, a 1.97 GAA and a .930 save percentage.
Dobes, who left Czechia to play in the NAHL and USHL prior to attending Ohio State, is the reason the Canadiens made the playoffs last season. He replaced the ineffective Cayden Primeau after Christmas and won his first five NHL starts. He finished the season with a 7-4-3 record and the points he collected made the difference as Montreal finished two points ahead of Columbus for the final playoff spot. The NHL regards him as a rookie because he played only 16 games.
The challenge for Dobes is to build on his strong start. It’s not unusual for a goaltender to shine early in his career because teams don’t have a book on him and they are not aware of his tendencies. As they see more of him, they have a better idea of his strengths and vulnerabilities.
Dobes’s strength starts with his size. He is an imposing presence at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds and is technically sound with the ability to move quickly across the crease. In his most recent start — a 4-3 overtime win Tuesday in Seattle — he also displayed an ability to leave the crease and handle the puck with confidence.
There’s every reason to believe that the hard-working Montembeault will regain the form he displayed during the past four seasons, but Dobes is poised to at least be No. 1B.
Canadiens winger Ivan Demidov handles puck as Oilers’ Brett Kulak defends during the first period at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Oct. 23.
Laine injury has a silver lining: For the second consecutive year, Patrik Laine is dealing with a significant injury at the beginning of the season.
Last year, he didn’t make his regular-season debut until Dec. 3 because of a knee injury. This time around, he’ll miss up to four months after surgery to repair a core injury suffered in Game 5.
Montreal will miss Laine’s shot, which produced 20 goals last season, with 15 of them coming on the power play. But Laine’s absence has two positive effects. For starters, coach Martin St. Louis doesn’t have to find a spot in his bottom six that insulates the defensively challenged Laine, who is a minus-75 for his career. And it might seem counterintuitive, but the Montreal power play has been better since Laine’s injury.
At the start of the season, St. Louis used Demidov and Laine on the second power-play unit. He hoped Demidov’s playmaking would complement Laine’s shot. The problem was the second unit spends less time on the ice and their talents were wasted.
With Laine injured, St. Louis revamped the No. 1 unit, starting with the game against the Edmonton Oilers last Thursday. Demidov replaced Zach Bolduc and took up residence on the right side, where he can take advantage of his playmaking skills. Juraj Slafkovsky, who had been on the right side, moved to the bumper spot, where he can take advantage of his size and strength.
As of Friday morning, the Canadiens ranked seventh in the NHL on the power play, with a success rate of 28.1 per cent. In the six games since Laine’s injury, the Canadiens have gone 6-for-12 — a 50 per cent success rate — and Demidov has assists on three of those goals. And in the three games since Demidov has been on the top unit, the Habs are 4-for-6 (66 per cent) on the power play.
The power play should be even more effective if Demidov follows St. Louis’s advice and shoots more often. Demidov has a pass-first mentality and has taken only 10 shots in 11 games. The threat of a shot will put more pressure on defenders, but that’s part of the learning process for the 19-year-old star in the making.
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