Alex Galchenyuk: One of the top forwards in the NHL.

We just don't really have a strong sense of it because he can't get on the ice like other players in his class.

He is among the league's best in points for 60 minutes played and this is without the benefit of the best players with him.

A short experiment with Pacioretty did not work in the coach's eyes so it was back with Eller and the right winger du jour.

Not exactly the best scenarios yet he shines brightly in his 3rd year, at such a tender age still, and people forget that.

Galchenyuk for me gets extremely high marks.

Max Pacioretty: He takes way too much heat and the narratives around this player are so wrong I hate to give them credibility by even mentioning them.

He's not a perimeter player. What an insult!

Lately he has even had his character questioned in the media.

STOP!

Pacioretty's problem is he cares too much.

We throw around a lack of character too easily in our business.

Another brutal insult.

So let's talk about on ice. He missed camp and has had to fight finding his skating stride again after an extremely serious injury.

He got that stride back for the first time in that big win in New York City.

He's also, despite the injury and losing his right winger for 6 weeks, on pace for 34 goals.

What the hell is wrong with that number everyone?

Some things confound me. Pacioretty's haters are one of those things.

Considering what this player has had to battle this year, I give him high marks as well.

Brendan Gallagher: He gets the highest marks.

It's pretty clear that without him on the right side that the Habs scoring falls apart.

That's partly because of what he brings there but also because there is such weakness there that the entire issue is completely exposed without him in the lineup.

He attacks the net with abandon and clearly two mangled metal fingers isn't going to change him at all.

That's a relief to the organization for sure.

Jeff Petry: He is my highest ranking defenceman.

For me, he has come as advertised.

The only weakness I see is when he makes the panic situation clear he keeps putting the puck forward into the high slot.

The other Habs have been trained to alley oop it out because no one is 10 feet tall so that has a 100 percent success rate.

The other option, pushing it into the corner, has a high success rate too, but Petry will still push it high slot which is a low-probability event.

Other than that though, such a smooth skater, his first pass is so good, great offensive instincts to join the rush and he wins the puck a lot.

High marks again for Petry.

Mark Barberio: It will be a shame when he hits the 9 game mark and gets sent back to the minors so the club doesn't risk losing him on waivers.

He deserves to stay in the NHL now for a long while.

Fluid skater. Strong at both ends. Makes everything look so easy that you don't notice him sometimes.

For a defenceman trying to make his way, that's the right scenario.

Should stay. Won't stay.

Numbers games can be frustrating.

The only way he stays is a trade of Tinordi or Pateryn and that's a strong possibility for a team dying on the right side.

The imbalance of depth is getting even more painful with the solid play of this Kirkland d-man.

Daniel Carr: 5 goals in 15 games when the entire club except Galchenyuk had completely shut it down.

Imagine how bad December would have been if not for him.

I want to say that there is no way he is a 25-goal scorer but the math so far says I would have a non-math-based bias.

So if I am the coach I keep playing him because I need the goals.

And as long as he keeps scoring, he keeps getting compared to Gallagher for his strong nose for the net.

Personally I don't see it continuing but I don't like to have arguments with math. I usually lose.

Lars Eller: If ever a player needed to be put in his best place to succeed it is this player.

He is the best puck winner in the corner on the team.

However after he's won it then what? He needs to give it to someone so they can continue the journey.

He's a 15-goal man, max, so he should not be with the team's best playmaker Galchenyuk.

He's a shutdown guy.

He should be the third line centre neutralizing the other team's top centre.

Case closed. Put him there and watch the team put together better results.

Paul Byron: A strong addition to the lineup and a good move by Bergevin to get him for nothing.

He is one off his career high in goals and the main reason the Habs have 8 shorthanded goals this year.

Add to that, that the PK is better when he is frightening the D even when he doesn't score because with his speed the opposition always has to be wary of him.

Nathan Beaulieu: He has only shown half of his potential so far in my eyes.

He was offensive as well as smooth as silk in juniors and I expect that offence is coming eventually.

I do not recommend trading him. I recommend they patiently wait for him to be almost as good as Subban one day.

Greg Pateryn: Steady. Gives the Habs depth to know they can get a right winger if they trade another D.

Jarred Tinordi: I have strong feelings about his situation.

He deserves better than to hang in the wind.

That's pro sports. I get that but this is just ugly.

He doesn't play here. He can't play in the minors or he will get claimed.

He isn't playing enough at all yet is criticized if he makes a mistake.

Well no kidding he makes a mistake.

Practice doesn't make perfect, games make perfect and he needs to play some.

Trade him already.

As a matter of class and grace at this point, he needs to be given a chance elsewhere.

He sure has maintained his class through this. I admire him.

Tomas Plekanec: He does a lot of things right but scoring suddenly isn't one of them.

He gets top powerplay minutes and he gets the best wingers.

He has every opportunity to put up the best numbers of his career yet he has seemingly lost his scoring touch since Bergevin signed him again.

One goal in the last 26 games. Ooof! That is 3 goals in a season.

I don't care how well you check or how good your 2-way game is, 3 goals in a season for a first line centre given PP time and top wingers is an abomination of a number.

Plekanec has to figure this out.

Andrei Markov: He seems to be losing a battle with Father Time finally.

It's not good, folks.

This soldier may not make it as a regular to the end of his contract at the end of next season.

That's no shame, as Bergevin needed him to stay when he was free to go.

The transition from star to average is going to be hard to watch.

PK Subban: Anyone who follows my thoughts at all knows that I am in his corner pretty much 100 percent of the time.

If the team listened to me when he was compared to the likes of Del Zotto when they gave him a bridge deal instead of an 8-year commitment for a hell of a lot less than $9 million a year, I could have saved them a lot of money.

So I say this with a heavy heart as I admire him off the ice so very much, but this is not enough.

One goal is not enough.

He is being conditioned to be safer and his creativity suffers as a result.

He is being told to just get it down low from the point and not worry about scoring but this is not enough.

He needs to be at 15 goals at season's end for the Habs to be where they need to be -- and he has one.

This is ultimately on him. He's the bottom line.

That puck has to get into the net off his stick regardless of what the coaching staff does to limit him.

He has to be in the Erik Karlsson category in stats.

The rest of the game is strong in my mind.

He eats up a ton of minutes.

He defends better and better as the years pass.

His first pass is excellent.

His decision-making is better than it was.

But this 1 goal in a half-season and Plekanec 1 in 26 games, considering both get the bulk of PP time, is a heavy weight on the Habs right now.

These numbers are the two most important numbers for the Habs to hit the lofty expectations of a a Cup final that I had for them.

David Desharnais: I left the stick of dynamite for last.

Wildly varying opinions on this player.

He had a strong start. He was the biggest surprise during the first two months of success but oh my has it fallen off.

Very little production and puck winning is at a low.

In my world, Eller is moved to 3rd line centre and Desharnais is pushed to the wing where he played well.

That's a balance down the middle that wins games.

Win the middle. Win the game.

Not sure I can ever see a vision of the Habs going to the Cup final with Eller not shutting down the other team's best centre, but Desharnais left in the role of trying to hang on.

Overall: The worst is behind the Habs.

Price will return after the All-Star break and they'll start winning games again at a regular pace.

The club plays a better 200-foot game than last season.

I still have the Habs winning the division.

Florida will hit the ground soon.