Has an NHL club ever dressed a younger defence group three games into the preseason? The elder statesman on Montreal’s blueline was 23-year-old Arber Xhekaj. An excellent test for the club’s promising defence prospects versus a Leafs forward group that was only missing Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies.
Michael Pezzetta should be in the lineup every night as he’s the consummate fourth-line energy winger. To start the preseason, he has had two excellent games in a row: skating hard, hitting hard, reading the play smartly, and scoring goals. You can’t ask for anything more from your 12th forward. The trouble is – he may be the 13th forward.
Alex Newhook is a lot more comfortable looking three games into training camp than he was for the first two months of his debut season with the Canadiens. He is utilizing his speed efficiently – kicking it into high gear when needed. Look for him to get off to a faster start, especially if he wins a spot on the second line with Kirby Dach and Patrik Laine.
Alex Barre-Boulet has been Montreal’s leading scorer through three exhibition games, and it’s not a fluke. He has made a ton of smart plays, sees the ice well, and is poised with the puck.
Christian Dvorak has been a popular whipping boy since joining the Canadiens. Granted, he cost the team first and second-round picks, and because of that, he hasn’t lived up to expectations. He didn’t make the trade. He’s also had bad luck with injuries and has rarely been 100 percent. When he returned from injury last spring, he looked quicker, and that appears to be the case at this training camp as well.
He does a lot of the unglamorous things effectively – faceoff wins, penalty kills and checking role assignments. So far, with the Canadiens, he has averaged 14 goals and 38 points over a full season while contributing to the aforementioned tasks. Those are underappreciated numbers for a bottom-two center. He’s healthy, he’s playing well. Time to ease up on the vitriol and
Jake Evans has averaged eight goals and 28 points over his career. He is shorter and about 20 pounds lighter than Dvorak and not as effective on faceoffs. So why is Dvorak mentioned as the center Oliver Kapanen would be most likely to replace if he makes the team? I get that he is more popular with fans—he didn’t cost the team two high draft picks. But he is not a better player. He’s not better defensively and clearly not better offensively.
Riley Kidney keeps winning puck battles, and that’s an encouraging sign for him as he enters his second pro season. He needed to add muscle in the offseason, and it is evident that he did just that. Look for a jump in his offensive totals in Lavsl this season. He’s a crafty playmaker. He didn’t do enough tonight to stick around much longer. Look for Kidney, Brandon Gignac, and Luke Tuch to be sent to Laval’s camp soon.
Montreal’s best player by a fair margin tonight was Jakub Dobes. He kept the Canadiens in a game they probably had no right to be in. He is very good laterally, has extremely quick pads, and competes. His .957 save percentage in exhibition play is a positive sign that he will be much more comfortable in Laval at the start of this season.
Lane Hutson led all skaters with 25:47 in ice time, and it’s clear that the coaching staff wanted to test him to see if he’s ready for a regular 5-on-5 shift at the start of the season. There were a few hiccups early on, but he adjusted well and had his usual forays into the offensive zone that looked promising. He failed to pick up a point for the first time wearing a Canadiens uniform. One wonders of it may have been a different story if he had been playing with the club’s top-five forwards. Ryan Reaves tried to hit him several times in the third period, but Hutson got rid of the puck and sideswiped the big guy effectively. He will get his fair share of points this season – he has shown that he belongs.
I wouldn’t get too worked up about the power play just yet. With the possible exception of Hutson, none of the players who will be on the first unit were dressed tonight.
Justin Barron had three defensive zone giveaways, and old habits appear to be creeping in. He still panics under forechecking pressure, which often results in a turnover. At this point, Logan Mailloux looks to have an edge in the battle for a spot on the right side.
Oliver Kapanen looked more ordinary tonight. He didn’t have as much time and space to make plays, resulting in a few turnovers. He’s got soft hands and plays very intelligently, but tonight, he was introduced to more speed and pressure, and it was evident that he will need to continue adjusting to the smaller ice surface. He was by no means below average – he still made some smart plays and didn’t hurt the club, but compared to his superlative Habs debut, it was a notch below
Owen Beck has been fine in the preseason, but he’s heading to Laval. He had to be extraordinary, and he has not been. The encouraging thing is that he is a rookie pro and does not look out of place. He won’t be in Laval for long.
It continues to amaze me how mistake-free Jayden Struble has played at the NHL level. He could be a bit of a loose cannon in college at times, and you just never quite knew what to expect. He has reeled it in as a pro and doesn’t take stupid penalties, get caught pinching at the wrong times, or try to do too much. He is pound-for-pound, one of the strongest players in the league, and that comes in handy in battles along the boards and in front of the net.
