The Canadian’s training camp is coming to an end. There are a few days of training left in the Laurentians and a match on Saturday, but the evaluation is almost complete. There will be no big surprise, except Mattias Norlinder, whose presence no one expected so late in this camp. However, his chances of starting the season in Montreal still remain low.
Here is the portrait at the time of the team’s departure for Tremblant. There are still four cuts to make. In bold type, candidates for demotion. Players marked with an asterisk may be sent back to the minors without being subject to waivers.
If goaltender Cayden Primeau is placed on waivers, the Canadian will be able to keep 14 forwards and 7 defensemen, or 13 forwards and 8 defensemen. If we opt for a menage a trois, we will have to remove an additional attacker or defender. Make your choices!
Who surprised at camp? Who disappointed? Let’s limit ourselves to players 23 and under, since we need to give the veterans time to gain some momentum, although Brendan Gallagher’s lack of speed seemed even more glaring this year.
This exchange was greeted with skepticism by some. But does giving up a late first-round (31st) and second-round (37th) pick really constitute an exorbitant price given the fact that the chances of seeing a player drafted in those waters become a first-round player? plan are around 15%? Newhook, 22, disappointed in Colorado last year in a role he wasn’t yet ready for, at second-line center, but still had 33 points in 71 games in his first full season, at 20 years. He showed us a lot of speed in preparatory matches, a good sense of anticipation, a lot of aggressiveness and great passing skills.
This 20-year-old defenseman, drafted in the fourth round in 2021, has made tremendous progress over the past year. We were hesitant between sending him back to the junior ranks or keeping him in the American League last year. He was regularly removed from the lineup in Laval at the start of the season, before becoming a pillar of the Rocket. He flew through the rookie tournament and offered great performances in preparatory matches. He is a resolutely offensive, very mobile defender who sometimes even acts as a fourth attacker. He was cut before Justin Barron and Mattias Norlinder, but leaves a good impression.
Norlinder was not in the plans. He even played a supporting role last winter in Laval. We liked his work in intra-team matches and we gave him interesting partners for the preparatory meetings. Norlinder played confidently at the point on the power play. We note an improvement in his defensive game. He gives Martin St-Louis an interesting option at the start of the season or later, if CH needs a good back for the second wave on the power play. He should theoretically be cut by the end of the weekend, but that he is still with the team at this stage comes as a surprise.
Dach is already a young veteran despite being 22 years old and we felt even more confident this year, after a successful first season in Montreal last year. A great bond seems to be developing between Juraj Slafkovsky and him. Rafael Harvey-Pinard completes this trio well. For much longer will we be able to say that Nick Suzuki is the number one center and Dach is the number two, or will we eventually be talking about two good offensive centers?
Not to mention a blast, this first-round pick, fifth overall in 2023, showed some nice confidence on defense for an 18-year-old. We see an intelligent, mobile defender, a lot of dog, who must gain confidence and muscular strength during the winter in Switzerland.
This right-handed defenseman obtained from the Colorado Avalanche for Artturi Lehkonen, in addition to a second-round pick in 2024, had a good second half of the season last winter after his recall from Laval, but we saw the Barron again draft from the previous year in preparatory matches. However, he had a position to lose due to the shortage of right-handed defenders. Let’s see if it survives the latest cuts.
Many saw him as a candidate for a regular position, some even dared to make him a candidate for the right winger position within the first line, but there was the acquisition of veteran Tanner Pearson, and Heineman did not nothing done at the camp to thwart the plans of the management. Heineman, 22 in November, can be sent back to the minors without being placed on waivers, making him a likely candidate for Laval within a week. He scored seven goals in eleven games late in the season for the Rocket. It’s up to him to stand out in Laval and move up the hierarchy.
We already no longer have many illusions with Mesar only a year after being chosen 26th overall in the first round. Mesar is a fairly skilled small forward with a puck, smart, but not very fierce in his one-on-one battles, still weak defensively and not very fond of sticking his nose into more dangerous areas for the body. He’s not explosive enough to get away with these shortcomings. Mesar, 19, could even return to the junior ranks this winter if he does not impress Jean-François Houle during the Rocket training camp.
Harris had his best preseason game against the Maple Leafs on Monday. It was time. In his defense, he had the role of big brother in a duo with Logan Mailloux. Harris, a third-round pick in 2018, is a smart and fairly mobile defender, skilled in transition, but we are still looking for a dominant quality. Is he an offensive defender? Defensive? Let’s let him play a second full season, time will tell.
Farrell joined the Canadian at the end of last season preceded by a great reputation. This 5-foot-9, 175-pound winger had a 53-point season in just 39 games at Harvard University in the NCAA, breaking USHL (the American junior circuit) records two years earlier with 101 points in 53 games, competed in the Olympics and two World Championships with the Americans. Even though he revealed that he had gained muscle strength over the summer, we saw essentially the same player as last year: frail, weak in his battles for the puck, rather on the periphery. Lots of work to do in Laval.
The departure of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci leaves a gaping hole in the center of the Bruins lineup. They may have found a solution faster than expected. Young Matthew Poitras, a second-round pick, 54th overall, in 2022, is having a breakout training camp, after a season of 95 points, including 73 assists, in 63 games in Guelph, in the Junior League of the Ontario.
This right-handed center isn’t the biggest at 5-foot-11 and 170 pounds, but he has incredible vision and surgeon’s hands. Brad Marchand even dared to compare him to Mitch Marner this week…
Poitras scored another goal on Tuesday, in 18:27 of use, as part of a trio with Marchand and Trent Frederic. Barring a surprise, he will at least start the season with the Bruins. Meanwhile, 2021 top pick (21st overall), winger Fabian Lysell, has already been sent back to the American League.
1- Kim Clavel, Caroline Veyre and Marie-Pier Houle are at the heart of the growth of women’s boxing in Quebec, thanks to the pioneer Marie-Ève Dicaire. A portrait of Katherine Harvey-Pinard.
2- The Minnesota Twins ended a historic lethargy Tuesday night. Alexandre Pratt tells us.
3- Filip Mesar and Riley Kidney are not guaranteed a position with the Laval Rocket. Simon-Olivier Lorange explains to us.
