Montreal Canadiens Report Cards: Ryan White
By Jared Book
Ryan White had an up and down year for the Montreal Canadiens. After a solid playoff performance last year, he found himself as the odd-man out more often than not and failed to play in any playoff games this year.
STATS: 52 Games | 2 G-4 A = 6 P | 50 PIM | -8 | 37.5% Corsi | -0.2 Point Shares
No Playoff Stats
STORY: White had a better season than last year, when he would take silly penalties and cost his team games. However, this year, he was passed by Michael Bournival on the depth chart and when the team added Dale Weise and Daniel Briere, there wasn’t much more room for White when everyone was healthy.
White showed some good chemistry with Weise on the fourth line and played well down the stretch even if he didn’t show up on the scoresheet. When Brandon Prust was healthy for the playoffs, White returned to the press box. There were reports he would come into the lineup in the Boston series, but Therrien decided to go with Travis Moen in Game 3.
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To be honest, White was probably in and out of the lineup too often to get a real read on him. The Canadiens had great forward depth and surprisingly good health up front as well which meant that a good player would have to sit out.
GRADE: D
White didn’t play badly, by any stretch, but saw his role – energy forward who can kill penalties – taken by Weise after already being passed on the depth chart by Bournival. The Canadiens realistically have between four and six players who can play on the fourth line.
FUTURE: White is a restricted free-agent and I would expect the Canadiens to qualify him and keep him around. You could never have too much depth and White is a guy who won’t hurt you in the lineup or in the press box. His future may just be getting claimed on waivers depending on how the Canadiens enter camp.