The Habs will be without their captain for the entire season.
Today, Habs GM Marc Bergevin announced that not only will team captain Shea Weber miss the entire 2021-22 NHL season, but has likely finished his NHL career.
Weber battled through multiple injuries throughout the entirety of last season, with many analysts wondering if he would even finish the year. He fought hard, however, helping the Canadiens advance to the Stanley Cup finals. Despite his injuries holding him back from being the player that he once was, he gave all his effort every game, being a true warrior for the team.
On the bright side, Bergevin also announced that he expects forward Jonathan Drouin to make his return to the team this upcoming season.
Drouin took a leave of absence in April and hasn’t been seen since. There were many rumors circulating around as to why Drouin needed to take this time off, but regardless, it is great to know that Jo is healthy and ready to play.
Drouin had a rough year offensively, scoring only two goals and 21 assists in 44 games, however, his potential is still very high. He has shown flashes of brilliance in the past, with his best season being in 2018-19, scoring 53 points in 82 games. If he can find the confidence to stay consistent, he can truly be a force to be reckoned with.
What should Bergevin’s offseason priority be?
I still believe that finding a top-six forward who can score goals should be at the top of Marc Bergevin’s list. As we saw in the Stanley Cup Final series against Tampa, the Habs need to score more goals. A replacement for Weber is definitely important, but goal scoring has been a problem for a long time and with all of the cap space that we have, this seems like the perfect year to fix this.
