Habs : Blue Line is looking good

Source : Montrealgazette.com

Hockey people love to say that you can never have too many defencemen.

That’s one reason why Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin should be applauded for giving veteran Francis Bouillon a one-year contract extension on Wednesday worth $1.5 million.

Head coach Michel Therrien is smiling because he has another player he knows and trusts for next season. And Bergevin is smiling because the deal provides him with some flexibility.

With the signing, the Canadiens have committed $57.4 million to 19 players for next season, and that number will go down when they exercise their second amnesty buyout to shed Tomas Kaberle and his $4.25-million cap hit.

The Canadiens have a full complement of experienced NHL defenceman and Bergevin will have the wherewithal — about $11 million — to go after a free-agent forward and/or fill in few holes up front and secure a backup goaltender.

There had been speculation the Canadiens were hoping to add some size on defence at the April 3 trade deadline, but that plan may have been put on the back burner over the past two weeks as the team auditioned Greg Pateryn and Jarred Tinordi. Neither one looked out of place and developing talent in-house is a major plus.

Signing Bouillon gives Bergevin some options. He doesn’t have to rush Tinordi, Pateryn or Nathan Beaulieu. If any of them do prove ready to play, the GM is in a position to deal some of the incumbents. And the depth in the minors — the Canadiens also have Darren Dietz, Morgan Ellis, Dalton Thrower, Swede Magnus Nygren and Pateryn’s University of Michigan defence partner Mac Bennett — will be important for the 2014-15 season. Josh Gorges is the only defenceman in the current top six who is signed beyond next season.

Tinordi, who was drafted in the first round (22nd overall) in 2010, could be the keystone in the Canadiens’ defence of the future. He’s a towering presence at 6-foot-6 and there’s plenty of room for him to fill out. He weighs 205 pounds and his father, former National Hockey League defenceman Mark Tinordi, told TSN Radio 690 this week that he believes Jarred can bulk up to 240 pounds without losing any of his foot speed.

Tinordi was a project when the Canadiens drafted him. He grew up in Maryland and, while he said the minor hockey programs there were good, he didn’t think of following in his father’s skates until he was 15.

“I moved to Ann Arbor to play with the U.S. national development program and I started looking at hockey differently,” Tinordi said. “It was a good experience. It was tough leaving home, but the family I billeted with were great.”

Before the Canadiens made him a first-round pick, Tinordi was headed to Notre Dame, but changed his plans and joined the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League. The move provided him lots of ice time, some pro-style coaching from brothers Dale and Mark Hunter and an opportunity to learn how to fight.

That last item wasn’t always for the best. Tinordi missed a chunk of games in his second season in London after suffering an eye injury in a fight with Erie’s Johnny McGuire.

Tinordi’s hockey education continued this season with the Hamilton Bulldogs. While the Bulldogs are facing an uphill battle to make the American Hockey League playoffs, head coach Sylvain

Lefebvre and assistant Donald Dufresne have achieved the organization’s No. 1 goal, which has to do with development.

Tinordi, Pateryn and the other young defencemen have benefitted because Lefebvre and Dufresne played defence in the NHL. And the Bulldogs play the same style as the parent club, which means the adjustment to the NHL has been nearly seamless for the youngsters.

Lefebvre noted that the Bulldogs faced a challenge this season with five rookies on defence.

“Guys like Tinordi come in and they have to get used to the faster pace and bigger opponents,” Lefebvre said. “But these guys have worked hard. Pateryn had a good start and was our best defenceman. Then he broke his elbow, but he came back and picked up where he left off. Tinordi skates well for a big man and we’ve used him in every situation. I’m not surprised they’ve played well in Montreal.”