Grading the Positional Units for the Montreal Canadiens Through 3 Weeks

The Montreal Canadiens are coming off a shootout victory against the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 5 that put them second in the NHL with 19 points. That's the good news.

The bad news it that they have an ugly goal differential of minus-eight and are coming off two lopsided losses to the Calgary Flames and Chicago Blackhawks, in which they looked more like a draft-lottery team than an Eastern Conference contender.

The Canadiens have been quite inconsistent so far in 2014-15. They have a lot of areas to improve on, but at least they're winning games as they develop as a team. 

When grouping the team into positional units, the goalies have been by far the best players on the team. The other positions all have their leaders and a player or two who needs to be better. 

Here are some grades for the Montreal Canadiens' positional units through three weeks of the 2014-15 season. 

Centers: B+

USA TODAY Sports

Tomas Plekanec

The centers, as a group, have been very good for the Montreal Canadiens so far this season, and it's no surprise who the overall leader has been. 

Tomas Plekanec has clearly been the best of the centers. You could argue that he has actually been Montreal's best forward, period. He is tied for the team league in scoring with nine points and tied for most goals with five. 

He's also second among the forwards in time on ice (19:05) and is winning faceoffs at a 50.6 percent clip. He is putting in heavy minutes on both the penalty kill (2:24) and the power play (1:56). He does it all for the Habs, and he does it all very well. 

David Desharnais has also been solid through 14 games. He would surely be happy with a few more points (1 G, 5 A) but his plus-seven is tied for the team lead. He's winning draws 56.1 percent of the time, well up from his 50.8 percent mark from last season. 

Lars Eller has had the toughest start of the centers, sitting at a team-worst minus-nine with just four points. To be fair to Eller, though, he has been purely used as a third-line center and hasn't been given much of an offensive role so far this season.

His wingers have also been a mess. On the left side, Rene Bourque has played like regular-season Bourque, while four different players have seen time on the right wing. Jiri Sekac was a breath of fresh air for Eller's line in Buffalo on Nov. 6. Perhaps he'll help kickstart Eller's season. 

Finally, Manny Malhotra has been everything the Canadiens must have hoped he would be when they signed him in the offseason. His faceoff percentage is an incredible 63.1 percent, good for third in the league among regular centers. He also leads the Canadiens forwards in penalty-killing time on ice with 3:13 per game. 

The Canadiens' centers are off to a pretty good start to the 2014-15 season. Overall, they've been the best of the skaters and have earned their "B+" grade. 

Left-Wingers: B

Andy Devlin/Getty Images

Max Pacioretty

The left-wingers are, of course, led by their scoring star Max Pacioretty. After starting the season with just one point in four games, the 25-year-old has picked up the pace and now has five goals and four assists for nine points. 

He is expected to be Montreal's best winger every game, and for the most part, he has been. He has also started chipping in defensively, as he is tied with Desharnais for the team lead in the plus-minus rating at plus-seven.

Pacioretty is even killing penalties this season, averaging 1:47 per night. He has teamed up with Plekanec for form a dangerous tandem, as hockey fans all witnessed from their beautiful short-handed goal on Oct. 25. 

Alex Galchenyuk has had a couple of short stints at center, but for the most part has been the second-line left-winger. He has been dynamite offensively in 2014-15, and this just might be the season he officially breaks out.

Through 14 games, the 20-year-old sits one point behind the offensive leaders with eight (4 G, 4 A). He has displayed a much greater sense of confidence with the puck, constantly using his stickhandling to create space for himself in the offensive zone. He is also playing a much more physical game, leading the Canadiens' forwards in hits with 27.

It has only taken three weeks for Rene Bourque's playoff heroics to become a distant memory in Montreal. The third-line LW—up until the last game, that is—has struggled mightily in his 13 games, posting just two assists and a team-worst minus-nine. Sekac replaced him in the lineup on Nov. 5. 

Travis Moen has, for the most part, played on the left side of the fourth line and has been his usual, unspectacular self. He does provide solid defense and penalty killing but provides no offensive excitement at all. 

Overall, Pacioretty and Galchenyuk have been great so far, but Bourque takes away from the unit's overall grade. Hopefully Sekac's insertion into Bourque's lineup spot will help the left-wingers improve on their "B" grade. 

Right-Wingers: C

Francois Lacasse/Getty Images

Brendan Gallagher

Simply put, the Canadiens need more out of their right-wingers, especially the top-six duo of Brendan Gallagher and P.A. Parenteau. 

Gallagher, who has mostly lined up alongside Desharnais and Pacioretty, is currently in one of the longest slumps of his career. He does have five points (3 G, 2 A) on the season, but he hasn't registered a single point in his last nine games. 

He continues to show his trademark hustle night in and night out, hitting defensemen and crashing the net. But the fact remains that the Canadiens need more offensive production from the 22-year-old.

P.A. Parenteau has been the early-season shootout hero for the Habs with three game-winners, but he needs to do more during the first 65 minutes of the game. He has three goals and three assists on the season, but perhaps his performance in Buffalo on Nov. 5 will help get him on an offensive roll.

He netted the Canadiens' only regulation goal against the Sabres before sniping the winner in the shootout. 

Dale Weise has mostly rotated between the third and fourth lines, but he's also seen a taste of the first line. He has been solid, especially after being a healthy scratch for a few games early in the season. He has four assists and an even rating while averaging 10:48 a night. 

Rounding out the right side is Brandon Prust, who just doesn't look like himself this season. When effective, the rugged winger is forechecking hard, throwing his weight around and being an all-around pest. But for some reason, we just aren't seeing that in 2014-15. 

Prust, perhaps because of his long list of injuries, just doesn't seem to be playing at 100 percent. He's not playing the physical game that has earned him the reputation of being a bottom-six forward that any coach wants on his squad. 

As a unit, the Canadiens need more from their right-wingers. Weise has been the best of the group, but the rest need to step up their game. 

Defensemen: B-

USA TODAY Sports

P.K. Subban (left) and Tom Gilbert

If one word could describe the entire defense unit through three weeks, it would be inconsistent.

When the Habs are winning, the d-men are getting control of the puck in their own end, making breakout passes and getting involved in the offense. But then there have been games where they just can't seem control the puck in their own end. The opposing forwards have their way on the forecheck, and it creates huge defensive problems. 

Individually, P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov are again leading the way. 

The Habs' $9-million man was an ugly minus-six in the lopsided Calgary and Chicago losses, but he has been great other than that. He is tied for the team lead in points with nine (3 G, 6 A) and averages more than 25 minutes of ice a night. He's also second among the defensemen with an on-ice Corsi percentage of 10.58. 

Markov has also been great, as usual. He leads the team in ice time (25:24) while playing in all situations. He has six points (1 G, 5 A), a plus-one rating and a decent on-ice Corsi percentage of 7.21. 

Alexei Emelin looked bad in the Vancouver game after taking a shot to the head, but that wasn't an indication of his overall performance. He has a surprising six assists, and unsurprisingly leads the team in hits with 30. He looks much more comfortable after switching to the left side this season. 

Tom Gilbert looked shaky early on but seems to be settling into new environments as the season rolls on. He's starting to move the puck better and has been jumping into the offensive rush much more recently. He also leads the team in blocked shots with 32.

Mike Weaver continues to block shots (28) and kill penalties (4:03 a night) but has stumbled to a minus-six rating and a -1.62 on-ice Corsi at even strength. Perhaps a consistent defensive partner would help him improve his play. 

Neither Jarred Tinordi nor Nathan Beaulieu have been able to hold onto the sixth defenseman spot. Tinordi has played nine games, while Beaulieu has played eight. Beaulieu seems to have the upper hand on the roster spot at the moment and is coming off arguably his best game in Buffalo on Nov. 5. 

The D unit has been great at times and horrible at others so far this season. Their inconsistency gives them a "B-" grade, and they'll look to be better in every game moving forward. 

Goalies: A

Derek Leung/Getty Images

Carey Price (left) and Dustin Tokarski

The Montreal Canadiens have been fortunate to have a strong goaltending unit over the past few years led by Carey Price, and so far 2014-15 is no different. 

Price, after a slow statistical start by his standards, has played like his usual world-class self. Even in the three games where he got lit up (against Tampa Bay, Calgary at home and Chicago), he was hardly to blame. His team hung him out to dry in every way.

After three weeks, Price is 7-3-1 with a 2.94 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage. Those latter two numbers are far from impressive, but they mean relatively nothing at this point, as they are completely inflated by those three lopsided losses.

Contrary to what his goals against and save percentage might suggest, Price has played very well this season. He played an important role in each of his seven wins; his teammates haven't given him an easy win all season. In fact, Price was named the Canadiens' Molson Cup winner for October, a monthly honor given to the player who earns the most three-star selections, via Canadiens.com. 

For his part, Dustin Tokarski is making GM Marc Bergevin look like a genius for keeping him over Peter Budaj after training camp. The 25-year-old backup is now 2-1 after his 31-save win in Buffalo on Nov. 6. 

Tokarski has only played three games, but he sports a shiny 2.01 GAA and a .929 save percentage. A starter for the past couple of years in the AHL, Tokarski seems to have adjusted just fine to playing once every 10 days or so. 

As a unit, the goalies have easily been Montreal's best so far this season. They get a well-earned "A" after three weeks. 

All stats from NHL.com. All advanced stats from BehindTheNet.ca. 

Let's talk Habs hockey. Follow me on Twitter: Follow @brandondubreuil