Should the Canadiens move on from Alex Burrows? – Hockey Writers – Montreal Canadiens
When Alex Burrows retired as a player in 2018, he didn't take time to return home before signing on as an assistant coach with the Montreal Canadiens' American Hockey League affiliate, the Laval Rocket. Two and a half years later, he was named an assistant coach with the Canadiens when Marc Bergevin called time on Claude Julien's second outing and Kirk Mueller's second turn behind the Montreal bench. His promotion came on the same day that Dominique Ducharme was hired as the team's interim coach.
From the start, Burrows was tasked with improving the Canadiens' power play unit even though he was best known for his prowess on the penalty kill. Three and a half years later, has it gotten any better? Is it time to ask someone else to take over?
State of Affairs in Burrows' Early Period
When Burrows and Ducharme were appointed, the season had been going on for several weeks; it was an abbreviated season in which the NHL had reorganized the division to overcome the difficulty of “not crossing the border”. At the end of the 56-game calendar, the Canadiens had a 19.2% success rate with the man advantage and were 17 years old.th in the league on the power play, but remember that was in a season where Montreal faced the same six teams over and over again. So that figure should be taken with a grain of salt.
Last year, in the 71 games played before COVID-19 invited them to the party, the Canadiens scored on 17.7% of their power play opportunities, giving them 22.n.d position in the league, nothing to write home about, to say the least.
In Burrows' first full season on the power play, the Canadiens' success rate dropped to just 13.7% making them 31St team in the NHL for that matter. This was Nick Suzuki's third season in the league and Cole Caufield's rookie season. As for Juraj Slafkovsky, most people on this side of the pond didn't know who he was until after the Olympic Games and the World Championships. Obviously, the Canadiens didn't have the strongest team, and it makes sense since general manager Kent Hughes had traded Arturri Lehkonen and Tyler Toffoli last spring, getting more prospects in return.
Evolution in the Last Two Periods
Although one cannot deny that the percentages have increased (16.1% and 17.5%), 29.th and 24th in the power play league there are no numbers you can refer to as satisfactory. The roster excuse should not be used again as a rebuild is underway; Suzuki is now a veteran, Caufield just finished his third season, Slafkovsky improved by leaps and bounds this past season, and most of all, Sean Monahan made the Canadiens power play more efficient than it was before being traded to the Winnipeg Jets. Feb. 2. With him gone, it didn't take long for the advantage to drop, too.
Granted, Kirby Dach's absence this season may have made it difficult to have two threatening power play units, but still, you have to move on, and improve. As Martin St. Louis once said:
“I know it's difficult to continue when you lose players like we did last year, but the rest of the league doesn't matter if we're injured, the league is moving forward.”
In an interview with Sportsnet's Eric Engels, St. However, it is not the head coach's only focus.
Is It Time To Move On Out Of The Pits?
After his first half season with the Canadiens, Burrows was offered a new three-year contract. Although the Canadiens announced before the end of the season that they exercised their option on the contract of St. or any fate of other assistant coaches.
Related: Canadiens Planning For All-Around Improvement with Burrows Extension
Considering the Canadiens' offense hasn't improved much since Burrows joined the Montreal coaching staff, perhaps the time has come to make a change. Hughes wouldn't even fire anyone, let alone say that Burrows decided to leave for other opportunities, to spend time with his family, or any other old fashioned formula that is used every day when someone isn't driven back to their jobs.
Of course, there is the small matter of knowing if the head coach will be there with that program, but I doubt that St. Louis can threaten to quit with this. In addition, this could be an opportunity to bring in an experienced assistant coach, something the media and fans have been touting for some time, especially on special teams.
If Hughes wants to see his team contend for a playoff spot this coming season, he needs to do something to fix the power play. In addition, you need your key players to start producing on the power play and you can't wait to be a big contender to do that. Practice makes perfect, but not without improvement. St. Louis even thought that the struggle to play power could contribute to the power play. This statement makes it even more important to address this power play issue sooner rather than later if Hughes wants to know exactly how productive the offense he has in his lineup is.
Hopefully, we'll hear soon what Hughes intends to do with the assistant coaches other than focusing on the draft until the end of next month. I don't think anyone would blame him given how important the rebuild is.
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