During the playoffs 2023 NHL games have been in full swing for a few weeks now, with many surprises for fans as the Boston Bruins were eliminated in the first round and the Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers went down in the second round.

But with the third round, which began on Thursday evening, fans are entitled to strong duels between the Florida Panthers and the Carolina Hurricanes and between the Dallas Stars and the Las Vegas Golden Knights.

In transit BPM sports As part of his daily segment, the sports journalist reports, Matthew Brunettook the opportunity to return to the four formations that complete the semifinals.

While painting a portrait of certain very specific positions, Brunet made an interesting observation between these formations and the Montreal Canadiens.

In his opinion, just like the Habs that have good centers in the future Nick Suzuki And Kirby Dashthe members of the four aces have not super star in this post. Although some players like Loope Hintz, Jack Acorn And Sebastian Aho can only be categorized as legitimate number one centers Alexander Barkov the Panthers is becoming a key star for his team.

In fact, Brunet reports that no center of the Stanley Cup semifinalists was among the NHL’s top 30 scorers during the season. The situation therefore seems a lot less problematic for the Canadian than expected if we compare the formation with the up-and-coming teams.

However, a second observation shows that Sainte-Flanelle is behind in his defence; especially as the team’s best defender.

Still, according to Mathias Brunet, it’s certainly what the Canadian lacks to aim for major accolades:

“The number one big defender is what the Canadian is missing in the long run!”

– Matthew BrunetBPM sports

Comparing the situation of the rising teams to that of the Habs, it becomes clear that the Blue-White-Reds are simply not in the game.

With number one defenders like Jacob Slavin, Brent Burns, Alex Pietrangelo, Aaron Ekblad, Brandon Montor And Miro Heiskanenthe Panthers, the Hurricanes, the Stars and the Golden Knights seem light years away from the Canadiens.

With defenders like Joel Edmundson, Mike Matheson And David Savardthe CH will have to hope that the Kaiden Guhle, Logan Mailloux Or Lane Hutson develop their full potential to one day compete with the teams aiming for the Stanley Cup.

And you? What do you think? Do you agree with Mathias Brunet’s comments?