MONTREAL – It’s an auspicious day for the Montreal Canadiens.
This year’s trade deadline falls on Leap Day.
That means four years have passed since last February 29, but it seems the Canadiens are still stuck in 2012.
If you don’t remember, that’s the season the Habs ranked last in the Eastern Conference with a 31-35-16 record.
Scoring was nearly non-existent, with the exception of Erik Cole and Max Pacioretty.
One big difference?
In 2012, after a 4-7-3 record in December, general manager Pierre Gauthier fired head coach Jacques Martin.
This time around, Michel Therrien went 3-11-0 before the new year, and still has his job.
In 2012, the Habs failed to make the playoffs and subsequently were able to draft Alex Galchenyuk third overall.
Fast forward to this season and the Habs have the same old problems.
As philosopher George Santayana put it, “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Trade deadline day provides an opportunity to take a frank look at the team and figure out what’s working and what needs to change.
WATCH: Globe and Mail’s Sean Gordon analyzes the Habs’ moves on trade deadline day
The Habs have yet to acquire a player who will fill that top-line centre role (although there were high hopes for Galchenyuk) and the team continues to rely too heavily on goaltending.
This time, the Canadiens are sellers.
Four years ago, they traded away Hal Gill, Robert Slaney and Blake Geoffrion for Andrei Kostitsyn.
Since then, the Canadiens haven’t made a headline trade, with the possible exception of Thomas Vanek.
Being conservative is Montreal’s game and the timing isn’t right for a blockbuster trade.
The Canadiens only have a 10.2 per cent chance of making the playoffs and are plagued with injuries.
The Habs need to start taking chances before the contracts on the team’s young stars expire.
Marc Bergevin will eventually have to step up and make a big deal.
Otherwise, it’ll be four more years of wondering what could have been.
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