Montreal Canadiens: 13 Keys for a Successful 2012-13 NHL Season

The famous Carey Price-P.K. Subban celebration.

That's something Montreal Canadiens' fans would like to see a lot more next season.

And if they make some changes and learn from this past year, they will likely do so. The Habs were very dismal this year, finishing 31-35-16, good enough for last place in the Eastern Conference.

On the plus side, they have the third pick in this year's NHL entry draft.

On the negative side, they will have to win back their fans support after a lackluster showing from October until April.

Changes will be made, things will be done differently. And before the 2012-13 NHL regular season starts, all we can do is speculate.

The Canadiens are on their way back to being a credible, strong team in the East. They have hired general manager Marc Bergevin, to replace Pierre Gauthier. But they have a lot more they need to do even before the puck drops.

And once that puck does drop and the season gets underway, they will have to perform.

So here are 13 keys to a successful Montreal Canadiens 2012-13 regular season. And it starts now.

Lock Up Carey Price Long Term

Carey Price, the Canadiens' franchise goalie, needs to be signed.

Currently, Price is a restricted free agent. So if the Habs want him in their net for the 2012-13 season, they need to sign him to a deal. And it is likely both sides can come to an agreement.

The Habs should sign the 24-year-old price to a long-term deal—not a 15 year, Rick Dipietro deal, but a considerably-lengthy deal. They are going to have to shell out quite a few dollars, and they know that. It's 100 percent worth it.

Last season, Price made $2.75 million. He finished with a record of 26-28-11 with four shutouts and a 2.43 goals against average. His save percentage was .916. He is the backbone of this Montreal team so it is likely he will sign for double that wage.

Having Price in the net for the start of next season is their No. 1 key if they want to be successful.

Sign P.K. Subban

Another prominent player, P.K. Subban, needs to be signed.

Subban, also a restricted free agent, is likely looking for a longer deal as well. He is key to the Habs young blueline, and he's getting better with age.

Subban made $875,000 last season so he is also looking for a raise. And the Habs should, and will, give it to him.

He is young, flashy, quick and can change the game with the puck on his stick. But what he needs to work on, is making sure when he changes the game, it's a positive change and not a turnover to the other team, leading to a goal.

Subban finished last season with seven goals, 29 assists, for 36 points in 81 games. He was a plus-nine on a team that finished with a minus-14 goal differential.

In order to ice a successful lineup, Subban should be on the Habs blueline at the start of next season.

Sign a Skilled Forward

Zach Parise is on the market, and he's one guy the Habs should target in free agency this year.

Parise, is coming off a strong season with the New Jersey Devils, where he is currently in contention for the Stanley Cup and earning $6 million doing so.

Other than Parise, there are no very prominent point-getters up for grabs. The Habs want to stay away from Alex Semin, who is very unreliable. Shane Doan is also out there, but it's likely he will resign with Phoenix. Ray Whitney is 40 but can still put the puck in the net. Can he be the answer?

Jarret Stoll and Paul Gaustad are two bigger, checking forwards that the Habs could also use.

But, their eyes should be on Parise. They need to do what they can to get him.

Sign Young Defensemen

Raphael Diaz, Alexei Emelin and Frederic St-Denis are three young Habs defensemen who are all restricted free agents.

The Canadiens have done a good job bringing them up through the system, so it makes sense to sign them and keep them around.

Emelin had a good campaign last year. He showed signs of nervousness and shakiness, as rookies sometimes do. But he also showed signs of brilliance with his bone-crunching hits.

Emelin finished last year three goals and four assists in 67 games, but he was a minus-18. Those numbers, especially the plus-minus, should improve with age.

The Habs paid Emelin $984,200 last year, so signing him to a slightly higher deal would be a good idea.

Diaz was also a good rookie on the Habs blueline. He finished the year with three goals and 13 assists in 59 games. He was a minus-seven, making $900,000. The Canadiens should also sign Diaz to a deal, as he could be a steady, reliable defenseman in the next few years for the Habs.

St-Denis was one guy Habs fans didn't get to see much this year, but when they did, he looked like he could be steady as well. St-Denis appeared in 17 games last season, scoring one goal and adding two assists.

He finished plus-three and showed signs that he belonged on an NHL blueline. He made $605,000 last year, and the Habs can get away with signing this guy for around $1 million and have a solid defenseman back there.

Draft Wisely in June

With the third overall pick in the 2012 NHL entry draft, the Canadiens are going to draft a forward.

Who that forward is, we do not know yet.

Nail Yakupov is the projected first overall pick. The Edmonton Oilers have the pick, but their needs are on the defensive side. The Columbus Blue Jackets have the second overall pick, and it's unlikely both teams will pass on this highly sough-after prospect, but if they do, the Habs will gladly take him.

The Canadiens will likely be looking at big Russian forwards Mikhail Grigorenko or Alex Galchenyuk. They could also take a chance on Swedish forward Filip Forsberg.

The Habs scouting staff knows best who the team should take, and fans should have confidence they will draft the right player with their first-round pick, while making more solid selections all the way down the draft.

Get a Healthy Andrei Markov Back

The Montreal Canadiens need their No. 1 defenseman back in the lineup next season.

They signed Markov to a big deal, where he is making $5.75 million a season, but he has barely played.

Markov played just 13 games for the Habs last year, seven the year before and 45 the year before that. If the Canadiens want to have stability on the back end, they will want Markov there.

He has proved he can be an elite NHL defenseman. He just needs to find his groove again, stay healthy and prove that he is still capable of being that top guy.

Get off to a Better Start

The Canadiens started last season losing seven out of their first eight games.

Yikes. Not a good way to kick off a season where hopes were high.

The Canadiens have a lot of work to do before the drop of the puck, as mentioned in the six previous slides, but once they get to this point, they need to come out of the gate hot. They need to show their fans they are ready to play and ready to contend for the playoffs again.

Have Faith in the New Coach

General manager Marc Bergevin was a good pick up for the owner Geoff Molson and the Canadiens.

Now, it's Bergevin's turn to make a good move and sign a reliable head coach.

Names like Marc Crawford, Bob Hartley, Michel Therrien, Alain Vingenault, Guy Carbonneau, along with several others, have been tossed around in the search for a new head coach.

Whoever is signed, fans and players alike should have faith in the new bench boss. They should not leave him out to dry. They should not criticize him from the get-go. They should be confident that he is capable of leading this team back into the playoffs.

They need to support the next head coach and with that support, comes confidence.

Improve the Power Play

Tomas Kaberle wasn't the answer to the Canadiens' power play woes.

The team finished the season with a 14.29 success rate on the power play.

Compared to years prior, where the Habs power play was tops in the league, this year was one of the worst in recent memory, as they finished 28th overall.

Markov's injury didn't help. Neither did bringing in Kaberle.

If the Canadiens want to get back into the playoffs like they were for the last few years, their power play needs to get where it was during that time.

Getting Markov back should help. Signing that solid forward should help. Having an older Subban should help. Having Max Pacioretty, Erik Cole and David Desharnais should help.

They just need to execute.

Stay Healthy... or Try to

Injuries last year really came to bite the Habs.

Brian Gionta played in 31 games. Markov, as mentioned, played 13. Travis Moen played 48. Scott Gomez played 38 (but the Habs were probably glad).

In order to be successful next year, they will need the entire team to stay healthy for the course of the regular season. Obviously injuries are unplanned and almost inevitable, so when one does occur, the rest of the team needs to step up in place of that missing player. Somebody needs to fill the role.

Use Players Wisely

When he was healthy, Travis Moen was sometimes playing on the top two lines.

No disrespect to Moen, a solid checking winger, but he belongs on a checking line.

He can be very effective in that role, as he has showed in previous seasons, and the Habs need to utilize him correctly. Moen was forced into these situations because the Habs needed more grit on the top lines and didn't really have anyone else to fill this role. The same could be said about Mathieu Darche.

If they can sign a bigger forward to compliment the likes of Gionta and Tomas Plekanec, then they can use Moen (if they choose to re-sign him, or even whatever player replaces him) in a more proper role.

More Goal Support

The Canadiens scored just 207 goals this year.

They let 226 get passed them.

Now the Habs have not been known for scoring a lot of goals in recent years, but there needs to be more goal support. The top line of Desharnais-Cole-Pacioretty combined for 84 of those 207 goals (16, 35, 33 respectively). There were only two other players with more than 10 goals (Plekanec, 17 and Lars Eller, 16).

The Canadiens need some more depth scoring and more scoring from their back end. Not a considerable amount more but a respectable amount more. And they need to keep the puck out of their net more so they can win more games by not scoring four or five goals a game.

Play Better

The most obvious thing the Canadiens will need to do?

Yes, it sure is. Play better.

The Habs will need to play better and play as a team if they want to be successful in 2012-13.

Sounds simple enough. Now they just have to go do it.

Follow and chirp Taylor Shire on Twitter: @TaylorShire