Nearly forty Quebecers, including those who are injured, have made their place in the final roster of an NHL team for the start of the season. Let’s look at the case of six of them, freshly arrived on the Bettman circuit.
Levi’s life has changed a lot in just a few months. After his Northeastern University Huskies in the NCAA were eliminated from the Hockey East tournament in March, the Montreal goaltender signed his first contract with the Sabres, before reporting to the team.
A few weeks later, Levi played his first big league game. He kept goal in seven games for the Sabers late in the season as the team fought for a playoff spot. With a record of five wins and two losses and a save percentage of .905, he showed that he was ready for this level, even at the age of 21. The general manager, Kevyn Adams, was also very talkative and positive about the cerberus at the end of the season.
Last week, head coach Don Granato even compared Levi to Curtis Joseph and Mike Richter.
“Curtis Joseph was an incredible athlete in flexibility, mobility, agility. And Mike Richter was very cerebral… He was very methodical and he knew the position itself well. Devon has both of these qualities. »
The Sabers begin the season with three goalies: Eric Comrie, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Levi. In a crucial year for this team, Levi could prove to be the much sought-after number one goaltender. Could he even be in the running for the Calder Trophy? Nothing is impossible.
A nice surprise to see the name of Tristan Luneau in the Anaheim Ducks lineup. The 19-year-old is one of eight defenders starting the season with the big club.
At his age, there’s no telling he’ll stay there; the Ducks may prefer to send him back to the QMJHL. Still, the Victoriavillois impressed enough at training camp to earn a spot in the lineup for the start of the season, which represents a great achievement in itself.
Known for his maturity and work ethic in the QMJHL, Luneau is a dynamic, creative and perfectionist defender. His challenge will be to stand out in a team where all the defenders are young; four of the eight guards on the roster are 22 or younger (Jackson LaCombe, Jamie Drysdale, Pavel Mintyukov and Luneau). Let’s see how the start of the season goes.
Thomas Bordeleau, who has American citizenship but spent his adolescence in Quebec, had a good training camp, and he was rewarded with a nice spot in the lineup. The absence of Logan Couture, injured and sidelined indefinitely, may have something to do with it, however.
Bordeleau, 21, spent the majority of last season with the Sharks’ farm club, from where he was called up at the end of the season. In eight games with the big club, he collected two assists.
In all likelihood, the son of Sébastien Bordeleau and grandson of Paulin Bordeleau will have the opportunity to show what he can do at the center of a third or fourth trio at the start of the season.
Benoît-Olivier Groulx signed a new one-season pact with the Anaheim Ducks over the summer. Here he is in the lineup for the start of the season.
It will be a pivotal year for the 23-year-old Quebecer’s career. Within a young team, with a new coach, he will have to show that he can be an asset for this club which is building for the future.
Groulx has played in 20 NHL games over the past two seasons, recording two goals and one assist.
The good news is that Samuel Bolduc is one of the Islanders’ seven defensemen for the start of the season. The less good news is that he is the seventh defenseman behind Adam Pelech, Noah Dobson, Alexander Romanov, Ryan Pulock, Scott Mayfield and Sebastian Aho.
Bolduc, 22, has only played 17 games in the NHL so far. Patience seems to be the watchword in his case. Since he must go through waivers to return to the American League, he is expected to stay with the Islanders and develop this season. Perhaps he will have a chance to show more of what he can do in the event of injuries on the blue line.
“For me, really, my one and only goal is to play at the top,” Jakob Pelletier told La Presse just before training camp. And everything indicates that the 22-year-old striker would have achieved his goal, had it not been for a violent check from Marian Studenic in the preparatory calendar. Result: Pelletier had to have surgery on his left shoulder. He will be out of the game for, at best, a few months.
It’s a shame for the Quebec native. Pelletier, a first-round pick in 2019, scored three goals and four assists in his first 24 games with the big club last season.
Pelletier is a Swiss army knife; it can be used on any trio. He was often paired with Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri last season. He might have played an important role with the Flames this year… However, his official entry into the NHL will have to wait. Let’s hope he recovers well from a major injury like this.