I think this is the question a lot of fans have been asking over the last few years. There is no doubt in my mind Scott Gomez has had a rough time in Montreal. There's also no doubt in my mind Scott Gomez would benefit from a change of scenery, however I don't feel the team would benefit from his departure, at least not nearly as much as people think. I also don't believe a change of scenery is a necessity for Gomez to succeed.
I know this is going to be a bit controversial because everyone hates Gomez now.
I'll break it up into sections the first dealing with salary.
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Salary:
Scott Gomez has a massive cap hit but at this point who do you give that salary to? There really isn't anyone available to give it to. I know some will say we should have landed Doan or Semin, but they were never realistic options. Doan is looking to win now and get a big payday, Semin doesn't strike me as a Bergevin type player at all and only took a one year deal anyways.
I believe Bergevin has kicked the tires on a couple of players but realized the payment was too much and didn't want to create any problems down the line. This team is being built for longevity, not just to try and win next year at the expense of competing every year. We aren't going to sign guys like that unless it's a fair deal. If somebody like Malkin or Toews became available you can be sure somebody like Gomez would be moved and an overpayment would be made to acquire such a player. Guys like Doan and Semin come and go, you can draft guys like that and overpaying for them is what got us into this mess in the first place.
We aren't in win now mode, we can make the playoffs but our team doesn't have the depth to go far without a ton of luck. Scott Gomez isn't at fault for that, his play has regressed on the stat sheet but his play on ice is largely the same. He isn't too old or too slow, he isn't too lazy or too much of a jerk in the locker room. He's a victim of bad luck and bad circumstance. He's also a player frequently name dropped by his teammates for being a good locker room guy. He isn't a bad person who is weak willed, it isn't that he isn't making an effort, he cares and I think he may even care too much.
In Short: His salary can't be passed onto another player anyways and even if it was it would be a less than ideal situation. We aren't contenders now anyways so it would be pointless to ruin our reputation burying him just to add a player who isn't an ideal fit. It could do more bad than good in the room.
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History Lesson:
Thomas Plekanec:
Plekanec had 69 points in 2007-08, then in 2008-09 he had 39 points. I'm not trying to compare apples to oranges here, I realize Plekanec was younger and still developing but hear me out.
After the 39 point season people wanted him gone. He came back and put up 70 points. Then followed up by 57 points, and now in our worst season he puts up 52 points playing a shutdown role. After the 2008-09 and 2011-12 seasons a large minority of fans wanted this guy dealt, I'd even dare say a majority after his 39 point season.The first time he wasn't even overpaid so ultimately salary is a non-factor. Media bashing, mob mentality and "what have you done for me lately" syndrome are the prevalent factors here.
People's perception of a player is often skewed by the stat sheet or the media. Anyone who knows hockey can tell you Plekanec was and still is one of the most important players on the team. The players can tell you this too because it's the truth. Let the record show that Plekanec has also had five twenty goal seasons in his last six seasons. The guy is talented at both ends, shows up in the playoffs and gives it his all every shift, but here we are again with the what have you done for me lately talk.
He put up 17 goals 35 assists and 52 points playing against other teams top level players with nobody backing him up on the wings. Does this not sound familiar? Scott Gomez struggled putting up points without any competent scoring wingers as well. I'm a huge Moen fan and I even liked Darche, Pouliot, etc. Is it any surprise that Gomez only put up numbers when Gionta wasn't injured and when the other winger was also on a hot streak? Gomez just needs another consistent winger to put with Gionta and he'll be fine. It isn't rocket science. Play makers need scoring wingers to get points.
Alex Kovalev:
In 2005-06 in his first season with Montreal he put up 65 points. He followed it up with a 47 point campaign and for the record he was a pretty similar age at that time to what Scott Gomez is now. Again, folks wanted him gone after that one bad year. He followed it up with an 84 point season in 2007-08 and in 2008-09 he had a 65 point season. Again, what have you done for me lately kicks in and people want the player gone.
In Short: Plekanec and Kovalev both had bad years where plenty of people wanted them gone. Both came back and had several strong years. Kovalev in particular was around the same age as Gomez when he struggled, then he had a big comeback. Why can't Gomez do the same?
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Reasons for the decline:
Gomez has had one bad season followed up by a year where he was injured. In most cases he was paired up with 3rd and 4th line players. His line mates were often injured, underdeveloped young players or guys he had no chemistry with. Even in the time he put up quality numbers he made Pouliot look like a potential thirty goal guy. Pouliot is an inconsistent player who has a long development path ahead of him. When he's on a streak he can put up quality numbers with a good play maker but for now that's where it ends.
The first question to ask is who are the consistent 20-30+ goal scorers Gomez has had on his line that even make him capable of putting up 40-50 assists in a season, let alone 50 points?
Let's see, there's Pouliot who we've already mentioned, Gionta who is solid but he's only one person and was also injured last season. We have Moen who is a great player but the 3rd line is already a stretch for him. Darche who is a borderline NHL player, Kostitsyn who was inconsistent at times too and also had his worst season last year.
Expecting Gomez to put up his regular production the last two seasons would be similar to expecting Moen or Darche to become 20-25 goal guys, because that's who he played with a lot of the time. Chemistry takes time to build and his set of wingers were a revolving door. I also don't see a time in Gomez's career where he easily produced points with bottom six players, he's always had great success on a line that had good chemistry and guys who can finish. Elias and Gionta are both guys who have had over forty goals in one season. Moen, Pouliot, Darche and Kostitsyn have never even come close.
The only consistent goal scorer that he played with regularly is Gionta. Usually a top line a center consistently plays with two players capable of complimenting them. So for example if they're a play maker they would have at least two 20 goal guys on their line giving them roughly 40 assists and maybe even 10 goals just being in the right places.
In Short: He had nobody to play with, bad chemistry, injuries, many issues that compounded.
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Conclusion:
I'm not saying none of the fault is on Scott, and nobody will tell you more than Scott himself that it's his responsibility. He's always been a competitor. The guy is a professional athlete with numerous elite level seasons under his belt and at the very worst close to point per game production. He was not put in a situation where he could succeed here. You don't take a play maker with a career average of around 12 goals a season and put him with guys who struggle to get 10 goals.
Gomez has always been a passer, he's known as a solid play maker who can skate and gain the zone. If you don't put him with guys who have speed and who can drive the net to score he won't produce. His production is largely dependent on others being that he's a play maker with little finishing ability. This isn't Scott Gomez's fault, this is the fault of management who didn't give him the tools he needed to succeed. Do people honestly think our organization didn't know what they were getting with him? He is what he is, a solid player who is somewhat symbiotic. His wingers need him to make plays as badly as he needs them to finish. It's a two-way street and hockey is a team sport. Unfortunately he had no teammates of good enough skill level to produce at the levels he consistently has for most of his career.
For all his faults, not being Sidney Crosby isn't one of them. We need to put him in a position to succeed. Gomez won't ever blame anyone else for his problems, he has too much pride to make excuses. The truth is there are plenty of valid reasons. Those legitimate reasons accounted for his level of play
He was as fast as he always was, his passes were also just as good as they always were, he entered the zone with that same passion and drive that he always had. He had some injuries and even despite being given offensive zone starts he had nobody to pass to, so now people want to blame him for the lack of production.
If you take apart a carefully maintained machine and instead of putting back the proper parts you replace two of them with cheaply manufactured parts that aren't meant for that type of machine, what do you think will happen? Do you think it won't effect the quality parts as well? Gomez is the quality part but the maintenance guy keeps using a Moen or a Darche to do a quick fix rather than getting another Gionta or Elias which is what the machine actually needs.
In Montreal we consider hockey a team sport, but because Gomez
makes a lot of money people hate him and expect more. If you were
offered that type of money to be the teams water boy best believe you
would take it regardless of the cap implications. Anyone claiming
otherwise simply hasn't been given such an opportunity. It's easy to talk about it when you aren't in the
position. Sather offered him money and he took it, end of story.
In Short: He's a passer not a shooter, and the sooner people realize expecting him to put up 60 points with Travis Moen and Mathieu Darche on his wings is unrealistic, the better. He isn't Crosby, he won't make a line better on his own, but he's a great compliment to skilled shooters and that's all.
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Final Words:
Getting rid of Gomez with his value at an all time low and with nobody in the market worthy of burying him for would be an unmitigated disaster. He is loved in the locker room, has done nothing wrong and is only hated by fans for making the money he makes. He was never a Crosby or a Malkin so expecting him to be is absurd. He is a second line center who needs the right guys in order to get going. Stop blaming Gomez for all the problems our team has faced and start looking at management.
We finally have a management team in place that seems to get it and they aren't mortgaging the future or trying to dump Gomez for a quick fix. Gomez is a part of this team and for all those living in denial he will be in the roster in October. If the new coaching and management team know what they're doing he'll be producing too. This team has a lot of problems but Scott Gomez isn't the biggest one, winger scoring depth and defensive depth are the key issues here.
Plekanec, Gomez, Eller and Desharnais are solid for center depth as long as you have the right amount of scoring wingers. Then we add to this Galchenyuk, we certainly do have an abundance of centers however if we had the right amount of scoring wingers Gomez's salary would be a complete non-issue. Gomez's salary isn't the thing keeping us from those wingers either, bad management and poor player development are much bigger issues here. Instead of people focusing so much of their energy on bashing a guy like Gomez, they need to look to the root of the issue. This is a bad situation and Gomez isn't at fault for one bit of it. Give the guy a break.
Finally, give Gomez another chance and if he doesn't produce after two games with Bourque and a recovering Gionta on his wings get over it. It will take time coming back from an injury and having a new winger but ultimately Bourque is a much better option than Darche.
In Short: Just give the guy a chance.
Thanks for reading. I'll try to make my future blogs as appealing as possible so for those who don't like long reads, keep your eyes open for my "In Short" comments, they briefly summarize my rants... I mean blogs :)
-neogenhabs
