It’s no secret that the Montreal Canadiens’ power play (PP) isn’t very good. General manager (GM) Kent Hughes will need to help the team find some solutions. One obvious place to start is adding more skill to the roster, but maybe an addition behind the bench would also benefit the club.
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Sometimes, retired players who played an offensive role can come in and solve PP issues. Fans were talking about Andrei Markov, but Alexei Kovalev, perhaps the last player to reach a point per game in the Canadiens uniform, could help. He is also willing to leap back to the NHL from the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), and he is very open about his desire to do so, specifically in Montreal.
“I would love it (coach in Montreal), but it would need to make sense for me. If they ask me to travel from one side of the country to the other to scout or look at prospects, I’m not a good candidate. I want to stay in a team environment and be on the ice with the players”
He has been working for the role, spending five years with the Kunlun Red Star, four as an assistant coach and one as head coach, and adding head coaching experience as the bench boss for China’s Olympic Games team in 2022. He has added two more years of coaching as an assistant with Spartak Moscow, where he remains under contract for one more season.
A Fit For the Canadiens?
Kovalev, who played in the NHL between 1992 and 2013, winning a Stanley Cup in 1994, explained in a separate interview what draws him to watch games. It is not the game itself, as it has changed since he last played, but he is enthralled with skilled players such as Evgeni Malkin and Connor McDavid. He explained how much fun it is for spectators to admire the creativity of these types of players.
He’s not entirely wrong in his view. Many teams rely on systems, such as the Los Angeles Kings’ 1-3-1 system. In defensive schemes like that, players do not get the opportunity to showcase their creativity because they cannot deviate from the plan. Otherwise, they risk leaving massive gaps to be exploited by their opponents.
In Montreal, Martin St. Louis is still developing his desired playing style, which seems to stem from how he played: open and creative offensively. This coming season will be the first in his tenure where expectations will be placed on the team’s ability to compete for…
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