The Canadian’s prospects play their first game of the rookie tournament Friday night in Buffalo, against the Sabres, before facing those of the Bruins on Saturday and the Senators on Monday. Here are ten players to watch during the event, a goalkeeper, three defenders and six attackers.
According to the initial plan, Dobes will be Cayden Primeau’s assistant in his first year in the professional ranks, with the Laval Rocket. But will Primeau deserve a job in Montreal? Will he be claimed off waivers if he is downgraded? Will Casey DeSmith join him in Laval if he isn’t traded? So many unanswered questions for the moment. Dobes, a native of the Czech Republic, was smoldering in his two seasons at Ohio State in the Big Ten, going 42-28-5 with a 2.28 GAA and .926 save percentage. In two years. But Primeau also dominated in the NCAA and he still hasn’t broken through. So let’s wait.
There will not be much suspense in his case, unlike Jesperi Kotkaniemi in 2018 and Juraj Slafkovsky last year, since Reinbacher seems destined to play another season in Switzerland in Kloten, where he already played a leading role last year. last at just 18 years old. Among other things, he amassed 22 points in 46 games. Reinbacher is very mobile for a 6-foot-2, 194-pound defenseman, has dog in spades, and he’s not without offensive flair. Due to the abundance of young defensemen in Montreal, he will have the luxury of developing at his own pace and not being seen as the next savior of the organization. If he becomes a second or third defender, the Canadian will have made a good choice.
Arguably the most overvalued prospect in the organization. Some see him as a Brent Burns for the Canadian. Mailloux had 53 points in 59 games in London of the Ontario Junior League and some of his goals with blistering shots from the point galvanized fans, but he amassed half of his points on the power play and nine defensemen had more points than him, most of them younger, as Mailloux turned 20 in April. In his defense, Mailloux hasn’t played much due to the pandemic and his suspension. He has some catching up to do, particularly in his decision-making with the puck, his positioning, his explosion on the back skate and his lateral mobility, but he will be in good hands in Laval. He has some potential, but those who would like to see him play as part of a second pair of defensemen in Montreal this year will be disappointed.
As much as Mailloux is seen by many as the future star of the Canadian, we talk too little about Trudeau, drafted three rounds further in 2021. This young man is only six months older than Mailloux and has climbed into the first pair of Rocket defenders… in the American League. Trudeau has 24 points in his last 36 games in Laval against much older and more seasoned rivals. Like what perceptions, sometimes… There are, however, a lot of left-handed defenders in Montreal and Trudeau will have to wait a few more years, take advantage of injuries or get a chance elsewhere.
The revelation from training camp last year. There was even a question at one point about whether he was going to start the season in Montreal, which would have been a rare feat for an 18-year-old second-round pick. Intelligent, disciplined, hardworking, Beck has everything to please his coaches. He had 41 points in just 30 games upon his return to the junior ranks in Mississauga, but just 25 in 30 with his new team, Peterborough, in the second half of the season. Can he become an offensive center in the NHL? The future will tell. Logically, he will play a third season in the junior ranks and will be one of the leaders of the Canadian team at the World Junior Championship.
For a forward with an offensive profile drafted in the first round, an output of 51 points, including 17 goals, in 52 games in the junior ranks at age 19 is disappointing. Kitchener was said to have multiplied the chances to score, but sport being a world of results, Mesar did not produce up to expectations. The young man did much better with Slovakia at the World Junior Championship against the best in his age group, with six points in five games. Mesar has reportedly been told that he will play the season in the American League. We will see a little better what he is capable of. He’s not very big, at 5-foot-9, but he has good mobility and has above-average intelligence and creativity. An important year for him.
Given his outrageous dominance in the NCAA, with 53 points in 34 games, his experience at the World Championship as part of Team USA with NHL players, one might have expected performances a little more relieved by Farrell at the end of the season in Montreal. He was rather shy, partly due to his inability to win his battles for the puck, with his size of 5 feet 9 inches and 175 pounds. He says he gained physical strength during the off-season. He should dominate at the rookie tournament, but the real test for him will come later. A season in Laval shouldn’t hurt, unless he surprises us at training camp.
Heineman had a good start to training camp last year before returning to Sweden, where he had 15 points in 35 games at Leksands in the First Division (SHL). He made an immediate impact in Laval at the end of the season with seven goals in eleven games and the Montreal organization holds this fast and fiery winger in high regard. A position in Montreal is not out of reach for him if there are injuries. Without predicting as much success for him, we can compare his style to that of Artturi Lehkonen. At least that of Montreal, less productive offensively, not that of Denver, with its 51 points in 64 games.
A first overall pick in the QMJHL in 2019, a bit disappointing in his debut in the junior ranks, hence a wait of more than four rounds in the NHL draft, an offensive outbreak starting in 2021-2022 with 119 points , after a lackluster training camp in Montreal, and a revelation at the World Junior Championship in January with eleven points in seven games and an impeccable defensive performance. The Canadian may have a player of the future in his hands, but it will go through Laval first, for a year or two.
We could have named Jan Mysak, Jared Davidson, Xavier Simoneau or Florian Xhekaj in his place. But we reserve the last place in our top 10 for him because two seasons of more than 100 points in the junior ranks is not a trivial fact. As dominant as he was in juniors (65 points in 29 games in Gatineau in the second half of the season), he always had difficulty shining when the level of competition was higher. He had a difficult first two training camps in Montreal and we barely saw him at the World Junior Championship. You never know, but it wouldn’t be surprising if he found himself in the ECHL at the start of the season given the high number of attackers in Laval.
After being scratched from the SKA St. Petersburg lineup three times in the first four games of the season, including just six minutes in his only game, Matvei Michkov, the Flyers’ seventh overall pick in 2023, was loaned at bottom-ranked KHL club Sochi. Like last year. Michkov had flourished there offensively with 20 points in 27 games, but five in his last meeting against the worst club in the league, Kulun, located in China. The young man’s offensive talent is undeniable. A question without malice, however: if we are to consider him the Russian Connor Bedard, why then are the SKA without his services?
1- Even if he accepts the idea of a reconstruction for the Canadian, Alexandre Pratt would have liked the team management to offer a timetable to his supporters. You can read it here.
2- The CH management has modest expectations, the players want to participate in the series. Simon-Olivier Lorange sums up the day at the Canadian’s annual golf tournament. Details here.
3- Quebec golfer Étienne Papineau is one step away from the big leagues. Nicholas Richard spoke to him. Details here.
