When the Canadiens nearly cleaned house with regards to the coaching staff at the end of the season, two men were spared the axe.

Stephane Waite was renewed as the Habs goaltending coach, as his relationship with Carey Price will be paramount in helping the Canadiens return to form. Furthermore, his role in rehabilitating the career of Antti Niemi shouldn’t be minimized.

The other suit staying behind the bench is that of Kirk Muller. Two seasons ago, the Canadiens re-hired Muller almost specifically to run their powerplay. He was given a shiny new title as “associate coach,” which is somehow different than an “assistant coach,” and the results were felt immediately. The Canadiens’ powerplay has improved in each of Muller’s two seasons with the whiteboard. In fact, this season’s powerplay was the best 82-game result we’ve seen from the Habs since 2009-10:

Year PP% League Rank 2009-10 21.8% 2nd 2010-11 19.7% 7th 2011-12 14.3% 28th 2012-13* 20.7% 5th 2013-14 17.2% 19th 2014-15 16.5% 23rd 2015-16 16.2% 25th 2016-17 19.7% 13th 2017-18 21.2% 12th

*48 game schedule

The Habs powerplay converted on over 20% of their powerplays for the first time in an 82-game season since 2009-10. For what it’s worth, Muller was running the powerplay then too. Even with a different arsenal of weapons at his disposal, Muller’s work on the man advantage has gotten results.

As a full disclaimer, I have no idea what Muller tells his players to do on the powerplay. I don’t know what they practice and I certainly don’t know a whole lot of technical terms for hockey plays.

What I may have is a pretty good idea of what can make a powerplay successful and what Muller may be telling his players to focus on.

I give you: The Umbrella Powerplay

This is the powerplay structure we saw from the Canadiens over the course of the season; with or without Shea Weber. It seems like most teams are opting for this strategy, as more often than not, teams are choosing to play the man advantage with only one defenseman.

The concept is simple enough: One true point-man in Jeff Petry with wingers on each half-wall. In this case, Alex Galchenyuk is in the one-timer position, being a left-handed shot on the right wall. Jonathan Drouin is in a playmaking position, as he is not able to take a one-time shot. Often times we will see Drouin take space provided to him by generous penalty killers and try to blast a shot past the goalie.

A sniper like Max Pacioretty is best suited in the low slot, and he is often flanked by wingers who will go hard to the net. Charles Hudon and Brendan Gallagher fit that bill pretty well.

The main focus of this powerplay structure, or any powerplay structure for that matter, is puck movement. The goal seems to be to move the puck around the perimeter until a scoring chance develops in a high danger area of the ice. Puck movement does not only mean passing, as you’ll see that moving your feet is just as important.

I’ll start with a 5-on-3.

Petry did a masterful job patrolling the point in Weber’s absence this year, and this goal is a testament to that. Starting at the top of the umbrella, Petry passes the puck down low to Pacioretty. Notice that Petry could move in towards the slot if the wanted to, but he would probably end up shooting the puck at the penalty killer’s shinguards.

Pacioretty gets the puck and makes a smart play.

He waits. Not for his own players, but for the enemy to collapse back towards its own net. Two Senators now move to disrupt dangerous passing lanes to the front of the net. A soft pass up to Petry capitalizes on this forced movement.

Sliding towards the faceoff dot, Petry is allowed room for an uncontested shot. The Senators’ penalty killer covered the passing lane between Pacioretty and Galchenyuk, but was unable to block a pass to Petry or the subsequent shot.

It’s obviously a lot easier to pull something like this off on a two-man advantage, but what happens on a regular powerplay?

Take a look at what Drouin is able to do to the Flyers:

Drouin takes a pass from Petry towards the top of the half-wall. Instead of forcing a cross-ice pass to Galchenyuk, playing catch with Petry, or moving the puck below the net to Gallagher, he decides to take the space provided to him by Radio Gudas.

Drouin has great vision and finds exactly what he was looking for. Gudas is nearly certain that Drouin moved lower to create a better angle for a pass to Pacioretty. Gudas’ stick is in position to block a pass to Pacioretty, but he leaves Gallagher alone for an uncontested goal. Having multiple threats to score makes the penalty killers have to prioritize one attacker over another. Choose wrong, and good teams will make you pay. Drouin is best at this when he moves his feet on the powerplay, as he does in this example.

Let’s spice things up a bit…

You may have heard this before, but having talented players on the powerplay is generally a good idea. Gallagher makes a great play drawing in two penalty killers while still making a tough pass to Petry. Look at the open ice created by two guys on a shorthanded team trying to hit the same player. Not a great strategy. Petry takes over in his office; the top of the umbrella.

Petry has an easy play to make; get Drouin the puck. He does, and Drouin knows that his best option is to move his feet. No one on his team is in position for a dangerous scoring play, so it makes sense to take the ice provided to him.

Drouin buys some time and draws the penalty killers back down low. Each Islander is below the red line that I have drawn and Galchenyuk is on the receiving end of a smart pass from Drouin.

The pass to Galchenyuk forces the Islanders to overreact. In just seconds, they have had to defend every point on the top of the umbrella and are now forced to choose between a Galchenyuk shot or a Petry shot. The puck is passed to Petry and his shot is able to make it to the net, as the Islanders’ penalty killers do not get in the lane. While we were all watching the puck, Pacioretty and Gallagher make a mess of the slot, making sure the goaltender has no chance to stop the puck. Pacioretty deflects the puck for good measure, and the Canadiens score.

Puck movement via passing is important, but an underrated aspect of the Canadiens’ powerplay is the concept of skating the puck on the powerplay. When the Habs’ powerplay stinks, look at the feet of the attackers. They probably won’t be moving.

Here’s another example:

Another similar start to a successful play. Once again, Drouin has the puck on the left wall and takes the ice that the Canucks give him. And it’s a lot. That will be a theme in this example.

Drouin’s movement towards the goal line forces the Canucks to follow him down low. Notice the Canuck in the top right of the box is in a similar position to Gudas from an earlier example. If Drouin moved further down the wall and that stick stayed in that position, it would be open season for Gallagher, who is unusually lonely in front of the net. All eyes are on Drouin and Galchenyuk is in his favorite spot in the ice. The only problem is the lack of a direct passing lane to him. If Drouin can find a way to get Galchenyuk the puck in a quick, indirect way, they might be successful.

Back to the top of the umbrella with Petry. Drouin’s move down low and subsequent pass to Petry back up at the point does two things: it moves the Vancouver defense down low while also creating a passing lane to Galchenyuk. It’s hard to see in this picture, but Galchenyuk is drooling. He knows what happens next. We all do.

Without Weber on the ice, Galchenyuk is the Canadiens biggest shooting threat. No one told the Canucks this. There’s no traffic in front of the goalie, but the ability to move the puck from one wall to the other forces the goalie to move laterally. When Galchenyuk fires the shot, the goalie is still moving towards his left post and is not set. Goals like this are Galchenyuk’s bread and butter.

Okay, let’s just get crazy with one more of these. This is the most involved one yet.

Same but different. In this play, Drouin starts with the puck at the top of the umbrella and feeds it to Petry on the half-wall. This play is effective because now the Canadiens have a player on their off-wing on both faceoff dots. Both Petry and Galchenyuk are able to shoot a one-timer with the proper pass. Having a forward man the top of the umbrella is risky, as a turnover creates a dangerous chance for the shorthanded team. To be fair though, if your point man, defenseman or forward gives up the puck at the top of the umbrella, you’re probably screwed. Anyway, Drouin gets the puck to Petry in a shooting position.

Petry is in a good position to one-time the puck, and a pass to any of his teammates is not ideal. Gallagher may be open, but it’s never a bad idea to just put the puck on net. Especially if the shot is low, which Petry’s is.

The puck ends up behind the net and is controlled by Gallagher. His possession of the puck draws in almost everyone on the penalty kill. Forcing the penalty killing box to come undone slightly, moving north to south can open up more opportunities.

Gallagher continues to work the outside of the umbrella by making a pass to Petry. The penalty killers now have to skate out to cover the passing lanes Petry may have. Drouin, not in frame, is at the top of the umbrella.

Notice the chaos surrounding Pacioretty. The defenseman to his right is missing his stick. Pacioretty is more open than he seems, and I don’t think Anton Stralman knows this. There is way too much space for the captain here.

Petry and Drouin play catch. When the puck is moved out to Drouin, two Tampa defenders play the shot. They both move into the shooting lane, leaving Pacioretty even more open. There isn’t a direct passing lane to him just yet, but if the puck finds him in that area of the ice, a dangerous scoring chance could be created.

Once again, Drouin and Petry trading places pays off with another chance for Petry to one-time the puck from the dot.

Petry delivers on that chance. Stralman seems lost at this point, as he is no longer covering Pacioretty, Gallagher, or the Petry shot. This puck has a clear path to the net.

And the payoff. The Petry shot results in a rebound into the slot. Because of the broken stick and the quick passing from Petry and Drouin, Pacioretty is all alone with a gaping net to shoot at. Stralman lost Pacioretty a few frames ago, Steven Stamkos doesn’t have a stick, Gallagher is now directly in front of the goalie, and Galchenyuk is in a prime spot for a rebound. The Canadiens ability to move the puck up and down the offensive zone opened up chances in all of these examples.

Of course there are the odd goals that come off the rush, but this is how the Canadiens seem to want to run their powerplay.

Which leads me to an open-ended question that probably won’t have an answer until September:

Who will the personnel be next year when this is rolled out again?

If Weber is healthy enough to play, you’d have to assume he’d be involved on the first powerplay unit. At the same time, Drouin and Petry have carved out significant roles in his absence. Weber would naturally play the top of the umbrella where Petry usually plays or the left half-wall where Drouin plays. I am sure there is a scenario that involves keeping all three on the powerplay, but it would probably take some maneuvering.

But if Kirk Muller is drawing it up, I think the Canadiens will be alright. As long as they continue to move their feet on the powerplay and create chances, this can be a lethal unit.

Follow Ian on Twitter @BoisvertIan and follow @RabidHabs for more updates!