Progress before results. This was the message from Martin St-Louis, Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton before the opening of camp. Now, ten days before the season opener, the CH puzzle is taking more and more shape.
The journal offers you ten observations from the camp.
1 – Roof has its place in the middle
Kirby Dach had two possible options before camp began. A return to the right wing of the front row with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield or a return to the second center chair. Martin St-Louis has obviously made his choice. Dach will continue his learning at the center.
CH has long dreamed of developing a large-scale rapid response center. Dach has a height of 6 feet 4 inches and a weight of 217 pounds. But it’s not just impressive. He’s talented, he moves the puck well and he’s aggressive. The former Blackhawks player needs to improve in the faceoff circle.
2 – Doubt on the right side of the blue line
David Savard remains the dean at right-back. According to him, it’s thin. Johnathan Kovacevic is one step ahead of the other candidates Justin Barron and Gustav Lindström. Like last year, Barron is not having a good camp. He is too easily beaten with violence in his own territory.
Photo Martin Chevalier
Lindstrom was acquired from the Red Wings as part of the Jeff Petry trade and has only played one preseason game so far. The sample is small, but no one liked it. The 24-year-old Swede says he received advice from Nicklas Lidstrom and Niklas Kronwall within the Wings organization, but the only thing he has in common with them is his passport. Stéphane Robidas will most likely move a left-handed hitter to the right side to complete his top six. Jordan Harris is an option.
3 – Reinbacher: a good camp before returning to Switzerland
As the fifth overall pick in the last draft, David Reinbacher came to Montreal with a lot of pressure. He didn’t disappoint us.
Yes, the Austrian received his plane ticket to return to Europe in the Swiss National League in Kloten after Saturday night’s game against the Maple Leafs. But there is nothing wrong with this decision. Reinbacher will continue to develop in an environment he knows well and play a major role in his team. Jeff Gorton said at the golf tournament that the most plausible option for Reinbacher was a return to Europe.
4 – After Suzuki-Caufield, a Dach-Slafkovsky duo?
We have the feeling that duos are emerging in attack. Juraj Slafkovsky has a smile on his face as he talks about his burgeoning complicity with Dach. The top pick in the 2022 draft put everyone at ease after an ordinary first preseason game against the Senators. He had not played for almost nine months due to surgery on his right knee.
Rafaël Harvey-Pinard received two accusations to the right of the two great attackers. A trio with potential.
5 – Joshua Roy isn’t far from the NHL
There was no space on the paper. And that reality hit Roy. However, the former Sherbrooke Phoenix achieved his goal during camp. He has proven he has the intelligence, game vision, speed and courage to knock on the NHL’s door.
Photo Martin Chevalier
Roy was the most visible young forward at the rookie tournament in Buffalo. And that’s how it was during camp, even if he didn’t escape the big wave of player cuts on Saturday.
6 – Monahan, the third wheel of the carriage?
Tanner Pearson, Sean Monahan, Alex Newhook? Pearson skated with Suzuki and Caufield in intrasquad games, Monahan got a tryout against the Senators and Newhook got a tryout against the Leafs.
Of the three, Monahan was the best fit for the dynamic duo. Monahan is 28 years old and will soon be 29 years old. He has experience, he is responsible in his field and he can free Suzuki by taking care of certain bullies.
7 – Newhook, speed and versatility
With Christian Dvorak out for the start of the season, Alex Newhook risks stepping into the role of the team’s third center. St-Louis often used him in the middle, with Josh Anderson to his right.
Newhook will have every chance in the world with the CH. Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton didn’t give up a first-round and second-round pick to give him a minor role.
8 – A household with three legal guardians?
It’s unlikely, but not impossible. Cayden Primeau has an interesting camp, but he is the third goalie in the organization behind Samuel Montembeault and Jake Allen.
Photo Martin Chevalier
Before Primeau returns to the Laval rocket, he must pass the waiver phase. Could a team like the Tampa Bay Lightning, who lost Andrei Vasilevskiy for at least two months, be interested in Primeau? We never know. But several goalies will be hit with waivers in the coming days.
9 – Mailloux is still fighting
Logan Mailloux and Mattias Norlinder still live in this camp. There are 11 defensemen left, including Chris Wideman, who has a back injury. Norlinder had a unique opportunity to score points on Saturday by turning the first wave on the power play against the Leafs, but he did nothing. He will return with the rocket. It is a matter of time. William Trudeau performed better in the camp, even though he was eliminated before the Swede.
In Mailloux’s case, he will logically suffer the same fate. The Ontario native often has to play and play. CH’s 2021 first-round pick has already made a big calling card with his speed, toughness and offensive style. There are still gaps in his defensive game, but that’s typical for a 20-year-old defender.
10 – Farrell needs kilometers
Sean Farrell finished last season in Montreal. When he left Harvard University, he received a candy. NCAA players have that power when negotiating a contract to attend auditions at the end of the season.
Farrell has talent, but it takes more than just talent to play in the NHL. After a disappointing rookie tournament and an ordinary camp, a stay in Laval is a logical choice.