NHL: Detroit Red Wings at New York Islanders, emil heineman, former Montreal canadiens player
Credit: Dennis Schneidler-Imagn Images

Context is key when evaluating hockey players, including those who no longer play for the Montreal Canadiens.

Given that every team goes through changes, there’s no point in holding a grudge toward the former members of the organization, even if they’re thriving after changing their work address.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at how some of the players who featured in Montreal’s lineup last season are doing with their new organizations.

Emil Heineman

Just as Noah Dobson has made an immediate and impressive impact with the Canadiens, former Hab Emil Heineman is enjoying life with the New York Islanders.

Relegated to a fourth-line role with the Habs, Heineman managed a relatively impressive production rate, to the tune of 10 goals and eight assists in 62 games last season.

But now that he’s playing for the Islanders, not only is Heineman scoring with more frequency, he’s currently being used as a first-line forward, playing alongside Bo Horvat and Kyle Palmieri, a significant uptick in his quality of teammates.

Heineman has scored six goals and four assists in 16 games, putting him on pace for a 30+ goal season. It’s not the most surprising situation, seeing as he’s the type of player who brings value to the table almost every shift, whether it be through his surprisingly heavy hits, his excellent shot, or his underrated speed.

All things considered, the trade that saw Dobson join the Habs in exchange for Heineman and two first-round picks is the epitome of a win-win situation for both teams, a rarity in the NHL.

Christian Dvorak

Admittedly, the one-year contract offered to Christian Dvorak was rather rich, bordering on excessive, carrying a $4.5 million annual average value (AAV). The Canadiens weren’t in a position to match if they wanted to maintain enough cap space to upgrade their lineup throughout the year.

On the flip side of the coin, the Philadelphia Flyers are enjoying a little stability in their bottom six, whereas the most pressing need for the Canadiens is centred on finding an upgrade down the middle ice.

In that vein, you could argue the Habs miss Dvorak, especially when it comes to faceoffs.

All four of the current Canadiens centres, Nick Suzuki, Kirby Dach, Oliver Kapanen, and Jake Evans, shoot right, whereas Dvorak is left-handed, part of the reason he’s currently leading all regularly used centres in Philadelphia with a 54% faceoff win rate.

It hasn’t impacted Montreal’s overall faceoff efficiency much, but it did remove a useful tool from head coach Martin St-Louis’ tool bag.

Additionally, Dvorak has scored three goals and six assists in 16 games, putting him on pace for his most productive season since joining the NHL in 2016.

Joel Armia

As fans witnessed on Tuesday night, Joel Armia has enjoyed quite the upgrade in ice time and teammates since joining the Los Angeles Kings.

He signed a two-year contract that carries a very reasonable cap hit of just $2.5 million, making it a great-value signing by the Kings.

He’s being used on the team’s first line, with future Hall of Fame inductee Anze Kopitar serving as his centre. With that in mind, he too is on pace for the most productive season of his career. He’s scored three goals and five assists, good for a 38-point prorated 82-game scoring pace.

Of course, one of his goals came against the Canadiens, because there’s no better way to ensure someone will score than facing their former team. Armia outworked Lane Hutson to score his goal, rubbing a little extra salt into Montreal’s wounds.

Logan Mailloux

While things have gone quite well for some former Montreal Canadiens, the same cannot be said about defenceman Logan Mailloux.

I’ll start by saying his poor results are far from a surprise. He was not ready for NHL action prior to the trade, and the St-Louis Blues were not doing him any favours by keeping him in the NHL, as he was being outshot and outchanced by a significant margin almost every game.

The numbers are so bad, that some fans created a rather brutal subreddit to discuss his play, named Bottom Left Mailloux, as he tends to be stuck in the last spot every time Blues player cards are published.

Mercifully, the Blues did finally come to their senses, sending Mailloux to the AHL on November 6, but the damage to his confidence will likely take a while to overcome.

Cayden Primeau And Michael Pezzetta

The Toronto Maple Leafs had two former Montreal Canadiens players in the mix, however, their impact, as expected, has been minimal.

The hard-working Michael Pezzetta has not played a game in the NHL this season. He’s currently playing for the Toronto Marlies (AHL), and is yet to register a point in six games. He’s also dealing with an upper-body injury, which has sidelined him day-to-day.

As for netminder Cayden Primeau, he was given an opportunity to play in the NHL, but as per tradition, it did not result in very encouraging numbers. In three games, Primeau had a 4.3 goals against average, as well as a .838 save percentage.

Consequently, the Leafs attempted to assign Primeau to the Marlies, but he was re-claimed off waivers by the Carolina Hurricanes, the team that offered him a one-year contract in the summer, and sent to the Chicago Wolves in the AHL.

Current and former Montreal Canadiens player statistics via Elite Prospects.

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By Marc Dumont
Marc has been covering the Habs for over a decade. He previously worked for Journal Metro, The Athletic, The ... More about Marc Dumont

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