Have Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton had enough of the gags about their 146-player training camp? We’re exaggerating, but the fact remains that the Canadian’s camp is moving into another gear starting this Monday.
Thirty-five players were cut on Saturday, mainly in preparation for the opening of the Laval Rocket camp on Monday. And on Sunday afternoon, the ax left a 36th and a 37th victim, namely Lias Andersson and Philippe Maillet, subject to waivers. Unless there is a huge surprise, they will not be claimed there. Monday at 2 p.m., once their 24 hours on waivers are up, they can be transferred to the Rocket.
Assuming that Maillet and Andersson are gone, there are 31 players left in camp, including four injured. Teams must present, on the eve of the opening match, a roster that includes between 20 and 23 healthy players; the list of injured is counted separately. Here is a look at the forces present for this last week of camp.
We write that there are four of them, because Carey Price’s contract remains valid. He will simply spend the season on the long-term injured list. In an interview with La Presse, Gorton, executive vice-president of hockey operations for the Habs, indicated that the team was ready to start the season with three goalkeepers in the lineup. The idea: not to run the risk of losing Primeau on waivers, because he will have to go there if the team wants to sell him to Laval. It’s been an adventure at times, but the fact remains that Primeau leads the Canadiens’ goaltenders in camp with a 2.05 average and a .932 efficiency in a game and a half. Jake Allen (.833) had the worst efficiency, but he only played 30 minutes. Samuel Montembeault (average of 4.19, efficiency of .848) hardly shows better numbers, but he was entitled to 70 minutes of play.
Wideman has yet to be seen on skates, so he will likely begin the season on the injured list. Matheson (lower body) missed three days in camp, but skated solo on Saturday. His file is to be followed. Here, no fear of losing a player on waivers: six of the nine healthy defenders do not need to go on waivers! This status weakens candidacies like those of Norlinder and Barron, who were not stellar. The presence of Mailloux at this point in the camp is intriguing. The young man needs mileage, we often hear, and despite the opening of the Rocket camp, we estimate that he can earn this mileage with the big club for the moment.
Dvorak has until November, Hughes said at the start of camp. There are therefore 15 of them immediately fighting for 12 permanent positions and, at best, one reservist position, given the surpluses in the other two positions. Heineman played “his best match” on Saturday, said Martin St-Louis, but the bar was not very high, one might have added. In a context of surplus, it is difficult to say that he did enough to provoke the proverbial difficult decisions. The fact that he is exempt from waivers could well seal his fate.
Slafkovsky and Harvey-Pinard can also be submitted directly to Laval. But Gorton told La Presse that a stay with the Rocket was not in the cards for the big Slovak. Harvey-Pinard now has a one-way contract and he played his two games on Dach’s wing. This sounds like the treatment of an NHL player. If it is necessary to cut elsewhere, Ylönen and Pezzetta are the players with the most fragile status, but the team will perhaps fear losing them on waivers. A higher-paid player like Armia could go on waivers without fear of being claimed, but trading a veteran in the American League is always tricky. The Finn, however, had only one match – quiet, we agree – to do himself justice.
The Canadian only has two games on the schedule this week: Monday in Toronto and Saturday in Ottawa. In between, a three-day stay in Mont-Tremblant to hold some training sessions. The Habs will begin their season on October 11 in Toronto.
