- By: @StevenTWild -
Let me preface this with a simple fact: I am a Habs fan. For those of you who know me, you may think I am going to oversell this, but at least hear me out.
PK is one of the most recognizable players in the NHL because of his reputation for being one of the cockiest players in the league. That’s not always a positive or negative thing, but it’s a fact… the man thinks pretty highly of himself. That said, he has reason to after having a sensational start to his NHL career. His performance as a call-up in the 2010 playoffs was outstanding, and in his first full NHL season he became the first defenseman in Canadiens history to record a hat-trick. That is pretty astounding when you consider the storied history in Montreal. But the sophomore slump has come and hit Subban… hard.
This season has not gone well for any Canadiens not named Carey, but last week when new bench boss Randy Cunneyworth made PK a healthy scratch, it set off a lot of signals. People are starting to question if Subban is going to be a legitimate star in the NHL. Capitalize on this uncertainty, because I believe he is going to come back hungry for the rest of the season to silence the critics. He showed signs of improvement the other night against the Sens, coming back strong after being benched with a nice goal and a helper. Subban has nowhere to go but up, and with the addition of Tomas Kaberle on the blueline and a new coaching style with Cunneyworth, his numbers are sure to improve. Subban is Montreal’s #1 offensive threat on the back-end and he leads the team in ice-time. He is too talented to continue his lack of production… look for his lethal slapshot to spark a stagnant Habs offense.
You should be able to get Subban for a currently over-valued second-line forward, or for another reliable D-man who gets PP time. Like a good boxing week deal, you should act now or regret not pulling the trigger when PK Subban vaults into the defensive scoring race.
