If Canadiens want to stop losing teammates at the deadline, time to prove it this weekend

At the beginning of the season, when Montreal Canadiens management was talking about the desire to play meaningful games, what they wanted to see was how their young team would respond to pressure and consequences.

Because these young players had never been in that environment before.

Theres a lot of unknown, so as we head into camp and into the season, were going to learn more and more about our team, executive vice president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton said at the season-opening golf tournament , and well know what kind of team we have.

Advertisement The Canadiens run from Dec.

17 to Jan.

16 a month in which they were tied with the Edmonton Oilers for the NHLs best record at 11-2-1 created that environment for the Canadiens.

Those games were meaningful, yes, to erase a 4-9-2 start, but what they really accomplished was putting the Canadiens in the heart of a playoff race.

They created pressure and consequences, essentially.

And how the Canadiens have responded to that pressure and those consequences has not been ideal, to say the least.

They went 2-4-1 from Jan 18 the night of the unanswered seven goals by the Toronto Maple Leafs to Jan.

30, making their three-game swing through California this week a crucial one.

And for an administration looking to learn about how their team would respond to that kind of environment, they could not have liked what they saw in California.

That trip was consequential.

That trip had pressure.

That trip had three winnable games in four days.

That trip had the potential to vault the Canadiens right back into the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race.

The Canadiens came home with one win, and an unconvincing win at that.

Coach Martin St.

Louis said recently the Canadiens were in a chase to the 4 Nations break, and they are limping to the finish line.

So, what have Gorton and Hughes learned through all of this? Anything? Was any of this worth it? The Canadiens have an opportunity this weekend to prove that yes, it was worth it, and they are worth investing in by standing pat at the trade deadline.

It makes this weekends back-to-back at home that much more consequential, and the team should absolutely feel pressure to sweep the weekend against two far less beatable opponents in the New Jersey Devils and Tampa Bay Lightning.

I think the last couple of seasons we obviously havent won too many games, which has given us high draft picks.

Weve traded away guys at deadlines that got us more draft picks and prospects, captain Nick Suzuki said at the golf tournament.

I think in that way, were pretty fully stocked in prospects and picks, so I think the position that were in now is were really trying to make the playoffs and show what kind of team we are.

Advertisement Heres your chance to do that.

The Canadiens are not completely out of the race yet.

These four points could at least keep them on the outer edges of that race.

And, as a result, it could also at least make Gorton and Hughes think about the possibility of not selling off parts ahead of the March 7 trade deadline.

When Hughes gave his midseason press conference back on Jan.

8 right in the middle of that hot stretch he put the pressure squarely on his players to keep it up.

Were happy were playing much better than we were at the beginning of the season, but weve played 40 games and were one game over .500.

So I dont want to celebrate, either.

We havent accomplished anything yet, Hughes said that day .

So we want to see how we do in the games between now and the deadline and well make decisions based on that.

It should be noted Hughes mentioned the possibility of hanging on to his impending unrestricted free agents at the golf tournament in September if his players made it, so that made some sense.

As you kind of come out of that phase, we get to a point where maybe somebodys on an expiring contract and hes helping us win hockey games, so were keeping him even though we could trade him for an asset, Hughes said back then.

Those are decisions, from a management perspective, that we have to evaluate.

It is entirely possible that evaluation has already been made as the Canadiens have failed to rise to this moment, that the results of this weekends games ahead of the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off will have no influence on how Gorton and Hughes will approach the deadline.

Hughes has been clear that the Canadiens have a plan for building a sustainable winner for years to come, and a plan like that shouldnt be affected by the results of two games.

But the Canadiens players have grown tired of watching beloved teammates walk out the door at this time of year, and the players that could be made available by Hughes ahead of the deadline David Savard, Christian Dvorak, Jake Evans and Joel Armia all qualify as beloved teammates.

If Hughes were, for instance, to put Evans and Armia on the market as a package deal, the best penalty-killing forward duo in the NHL, who knows how rich of a price he could command? Advertisement If the Canadiens want to put an end to thought exercises such as that one, they have an opportunity in front of them right now.

They have to sweep Super Bowl weekend.

Nothing less.

These are meaningful games they have pressure and consequences.

And they are an opportunity for the Canadiens.

They will have to, as Suzuki said back in September, show what kind of team they are.

(Top photo of Jake Evans and Joel Armia: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images).

This article has been shared from the original article on theathleticuk, here is the link to the original article.