The Montreal Canadiens languish in the National Hockey League (NHL) for last-place performance of their massive offense, and this has been a problem for a number of years.

If you look closely at the Bettman Circuit website, you can see that the Habs had the worst power play performance in the entire NHL with an efficiency percentage of 15.3% during the 2018-2019 season. It’s the only team not to break the 16% mark, with the 31st team in this chapter (the Detroit Red Wings) sitting exactly at 16.0%.

That poor performance is a far cry from the excellence of Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers, who took first place at 26.6%. Half of the league’s 32 clubs hit the 20 per cent mark in that same period.

So far, the Canadiens continue their one-man-over midfield streak with a 14.0% rating, which puts them 32nd behind the Nashville Predators (14.4%). Once again, the Oilers lead by 31.9%.

The past season was not a glorious one for the Bleu Blanc Rouge either, they occupied the 31st rung for their powerplay unit with a share of 13.7% just ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers with 12.6%.

The past few years have been little better in this facet of the game in Montreal. In 2018-2019, the team was second to bottom with 13.3%, which did not prevent it from collecting 96 points in the overall standings. The 2019-2020 calendar shortened by the pandemic was slightly more favorable for Sainte-Flanelle, 22nd, thanks to a percentage of 17.7%. Then, in the 2020-2021 season, in which the club played in a Canadian section, he finished 17th with 19.2%.

Additionally, we have to go back to 2017-2018 to retrace the last time the Canadian (21.2%) closed above 20%.