By Dan Kramer - @DanKramerHabs
Ah, rookie camp. For those that take interest in the development of young aspirants to future NHL stardom (or at least employment), it represents the official kick-off to a new hockey season. And before many had even had a chance to flip their calendars from August to September, skates were again carving up ice surfaces, this year right in downtown Toronto versus the last two Falls spent in further away London, Ontario.
This year's Canadiens rookie camp roster didn't necessarily have the same luster of the last few. Only a single first round pick was in attendance (Noah Juulsen) due to the trading of last year's choice (Mikhail Sergachev) and this year's selection (Ryan Poehling) playing in the NCAA, where school schedules and the eligibility requirement of paying one's own way are typically impediments. Add to this Joni Ikonen and Lukas Vejdemo staying in Europe, and the forward ranks in particular began to look rather bare.
The big youth battles at forward this month will be between the likes of Charles Hudon, Michael McCarron, Jacob De La Rose, and perhaps even Nikita Scherbak, but they've all served their time and earned the right to skip this portion of the pre-season preparation.
With a lack of traditional "big names," many turned their attention to a big story - Martin Reway finally making his North American debut, one year removed from a serious medical condition preventing him from crossing the Atlantic. As incredible and inspirational as his recovery may be, expecting miracles out of someone who hadn't played a game in a year and had only resumed skating a few weeks wasn't even close to realistic, was it?
That and more were answered in a pair of games Friday and Saturday night against prospects from the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators. Some opportunistic scoring and solid goaltending helped the Montreal side to a 5-2 victory in their opener, but the youngsters didn't have much left in the tank for their second game in 24 hours, dropping an 8-2 decision to Ottawa on Saturday. Below are some notes on individual player performances.
FORWARDS
Will Bitten: My pick for top Hab skater in the tournament. Though Bitten's OHL season may not have been up to expectations with a meager drop to both his goal and point totals, the versatile forward picked back up where he left off in rookie camp a year ago, when he was also a notable standout with his speed and energy making things happen. Playing with Hamilton Bulldog teammate Niki Petti (signed to an AHL deal) and fellow OHLer Michael Pezzetta, that speed helped him escape in alone on a break against the Leafs, scoring a key third period tally to tie the game. He broke in alone again against Ottawa, a testament to his footspeed, but was unable to find the back of the net. As is his style, he was regularly tenacious along the boards, helping to maintain puck possession and create turnovers. It's hard to project how Bitten will turn out and whether or not his pure skill level will allow him to become an NHL regular, but at a minimum he looks to be the type that can get there through work ethic alone, in the mould of a Gabriel Dumont or Mike Blunden. As an upside, his well-rounded game could see him fill a third line center job.
Daniel Audette: Audette will certainly be looking to build on a reasonably productive AHL rookie season that saw him score 30 points in 75 games for the St. John's IceCaps. Consistency will be the name of the game, as he would put together some nice short-term scoring streaks, and then be blanked for at times multiple weeks. Audette centered what should have been Montreal's top line for the tournament, between Jeremiah Addison and Reway, but the trio took some time to figure each other out. As a line, their best moments came on the powerplay, where the hands of both Audette and Reway could be clearest displayed. I would rank Audette as my #2 forward, easily the top performer of his unit. He converted a Reway feed for an insurance marker against Toronto, and was generally more and more noticeable on his shifts as the tournament moved along. He showed solid defensive presence, breaking up numerous threatening plays in his own end in each game, indicating he may be able to continue developing at the center position. At 5'8", size will always be something he battles against, so while his play without the puck is encouraging, he will need more of a breakout offensive season in the AHL to show he may be able to transition to the top level.
Martin Reway: Returning to the ice was no small feat for the 22-year old Czech-born Slovak winger. His own confidence, stating he was here to play in the NHL, may have set expectations far too high, however, as it was quickly clear that patience will be required as he regains his timing and feet. Aside the occasional check thrown by the 5'9" forward, Reway was mostly unnoticeable without the puck on his stick. When controlling it at even strength, he turned it over equally as often as he made a nice play for a teammate. It was certainly not all negative, as the hands that had previously filled dreams of Hab fans from his international play were on his display with the man advantage, setting up Audette's goal and creating several other high caliber chances. The extra time and space in those situations seemed to suit him well at this stage, and it will now be on him to continue getting the other elements of his game back up to par at the AHL or ECHL level. Let's put a pause on judging his NHL future until he gets through a healthy season of action in North America.
DEFENSEMEN
Victor Mete: A top three skater for Montreal in the tournament along with Bitten and Audette, Mete's strength at supporting the rush was evident in both games. His great skating ability led to the creation of odd-man rushes, where he twice narrowly missed converting the back-side sneak play with a tap-in. He did score Montreal's opening goal against Ottawa, sneaking in off the blueline and firing a quick shot through traffic. While footspeed and puck-moving are his biggest assets, Mete was certainly adequate in his own end, despite his small stature often being towered over by opposing forwards. He was tried with several different partners, but in all circumstances he was the far better of the pair at carrying the play. Mete still has one season remaining with the London Knights, and quite possibly a trip to the World Juniors to represent Team Canada, before he will turn pro.
Josh Brook: For just over a period, Brook was looking like the best d-man in camp. Brook seems like a complete package, with strong physical play, adequate size and speed, and good puck-moving ability, he made sure a couple of Leafs (physically) felt his presence early on in game one. Unfortunately the 2017 second rounder had to leave the game midway through the second period with an upper-body injury, which would also hold him out of Saturday's match-up with the Sens. Hopefully it's nothing serious, but either way some promise was definitely evident in an admittedly very tiny sample size.
Noah Juulsen: If fans were looking for Juulsen to come in and dominate, they would have left disappointed. If you were looking for a fairly quiet, fairly solid performer with a good shot from the point, then you got what you were after in game one. Juulsen was rather unnoticeable, but for a defense-first blueliner, that is hardly an insult. Wearing the 'C' for the Habs rookies, as he had in Everett, the 6'2" blueliner had a less ideal night against Ottawa, guilty of a couple of turnovers for opposing chances. While Juulsen is comfortable laying on physical play of his own, he was on a couple of occasions thrown off when others were physical towards him. Dealing with bigger and older competition as he makes his transition to the pro game this year will be an important adjustment as he must not get taken out of the play as easily as he was this weekend. There is no reason to doubt his NHL potential based on these two games, but the timeline for his ascension to that level may be a bit longer than some had hoped.
Simon Bourque: Perhaps no player polarized me as much on the weekend as Bourque. I thought he was one of the team's best d-men Friday, great at holding the line, moving the puck around, and supporting the rush, but then one of the team's worst on Saturday, looking soft in his own end and coughing it up multiple times. The raw skills are clearly there, but consistency will need to follow as he transitions to AHL hockey this year. It's a crowded blueline in Laval, so if Bourque happens to be forced to spend some time in Brampton, don't think it means defeat in terms of him ever being an NHL rearguard. It is simply that he'll need to play regularly in order to develop that required consistency to his game.
GOALTENDER
Michael McNiven: The best overall performance of any Hab on the weekend, McNiven was stellar in Friday's 5-2 win which saw the Canadiens outshot by a decent margin. While he wasn't forced to make too many spectacular stops, he was routinely positionally sound, and was solid on rebound control. McNiven was thrown back in mid-way through Saturday's game, relieving tryout Antoine Samuel with the Canadiens trailing 5-1. After quickly making a few big stops, he was beaten on an odd-man rush created by a defensive zone turnover. Shortly after, he allowed his only "flop" of the tournament, misplaying a puck at the side of the net and seeing it bounce in behind him. While the game may have already been out of reach, that pair made it decidedly so, but did nothing to diminish an overall very positive impression left behind by McNiven. It will be interesting to see how the Canadiens manage their young goaltenders this year. Presumably, Charlie Lindgren is penciled in as Laval's starter. Zach Fucale's season in the ECHL may very well warrant further AHL evaluation, but McNiven can make a strong case to being the better of the two. Unlike in the NHL, AHL backups still see plenty of action, so it's tough to say which route (ECHL starter or AHL back-up) would be better for development, and highly possible that whichever choice is made is then flipped at some point during the year. If I had to make a wild prediction, I might be willing to put money on McNiven beginning to wrestle even AHL starting duties form Lindgren before the year is done. In any case, the Canadiens incredible depth between the pipes would be tough for any other team to rival league-wide.
TRYOUTS
The tryout forwards held their own weight quite well this year, unlike in past years where there was a clear drop-off between the NHL picks and invitees. Though perhaps that's saying almost as much about the lack of depth among forward draftees in attendance.
While Thomas Ebbing's three goals in two games pop off the scoresheet, the forward I was most impressed with was Alexandre Alain. The 6'1" 20-year old dramatically improved his stats in the QMJHL last season, leading his team and finishing just shy of the point-per-game mark, and was a constant threat on the ice this weekend. He was a hound on the puck and had a quick release, even if he wasn't able to capitalize as frequently as Ebbing. Alain is one I would certainly offer a main camp invite to, provided he was open to an AHL contract.
Jordan Boucher also made the most of his opportunity, though older than most at 23 and with already 9 AHL games of experience to his name (a tryout with the Binghamton Senators). Similar to Alain, he buzzed around the puck when on the ice, but was more noticeable in making smart plays and passes with it, particularly in the offensive zone. After Alain, he'd be next on my list for a tryout, closely followed by Ebbing and 20-year old James McEwan, who showed nice flashes at time but less consistently than the other three.
With this portion of camp in the books, it's only days before all the veterans check-in and we are treated to preseason hockey. Nothing seen this weekend should impact the opening night roster where there are already precious few jobs available and many hungry players seeking opportunities. All the same, it didn't stop the few mentioned above from giving the Canadiens' brass more to think about for the years to come.
Ah, rookie camp. For those that take interest in the development of young aspirants to future NHL stardom (or at least employment), it represents the official kick-off to a new hockey season. And before many had even had a chance to flip their calendars from August to September, skates were again carving up ice surfaces, this year right in downtown Toronto versus the last two Falls spent in further away London, Ontario.
This year's Canadiens rookie camp roster didn't necessarily have the same luster of the last few. Only a single first round pick was in attendance (Noah Juulsen) due to the trading of last year's choice (Mikhail Sergachev) and this year's selection (Ryan Poehling) playing in the NCAA, where school schedules and the eligibility requirement of paying one's own way are typically impediments. Add to this Joni Ikonen and Lukas Vejdemo staying in Europe, and the forward ranks in particular began to look rather bare.
The big youth battles at forward this month will be between the likes of Charles Hudon, Michael McCarron, Jacob De La Rose, and perhaps even Nikita Scherbak, but they've all served their time and earned the right to skip this portion of the pre-season preparation.
With a lack of traditional "big names," many turned their attention to a big story - Martin Reway finally making his North American debut, one year removed from a serious medical condition preventing him from crossing the Atlantic. As incredible and inspirational as his recovery may be, expecting miracles out of someone who hadn't played a game in a year and had only resumed skating a few weeks wasn't even close to realistic, was it?
That and more were answered in a pair of games Friday and Saturday night against prospects from the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators. Some opportunistic scoring and solid goaltending helped the Montreal side to a 5-2 victory in their opener, but the youngsters didn't have much left in the tank for their second game in 24 hours, dropping an 8-2 decision to Ottawa on Saturday. Below are some notes on individual player performances.
FORWARDS
Will Bitten: My pick for top Hab skater in the tournament. Though Bitten's OHL season may not have been up to expectations with a meager drop to both his goal and point totals, the versatile forward picked back up where he left off in rookie camp a year ago, when he was also a notable standout with his speed and energy making things happen. Playing with Hamilton Bulldog teammate Niki Petti (signed to an AHL deal) and fellow OHLer Michael Pezzetta, that speed helped him escape in alone on a break against the Leafs, scoring a key third period tally to tie the game. He broke in alone again against Ottawa, a testament to his footspeed, but was unable to find the back of the net. As is his style, he was regularly tenacious along the boards, helping to maintain puck possession and create turnovers. It's hard to project how Bitten will turn out and whether or not his pure skill level will allow him to become an NHL regular, but at a minimum he looks to be the type that can get there through work ethic alone, in the mould of a Gabriel Dumont or Mike Blunden. As an upside, his well-rounded game could see him fill a third line center job.
Daniel Audette: Audette will certainly be looking to build on a reasonably productive AHL rookie season that saw him score 30 points in 75 games for the St. John's IceCaps. Consistency will be the name of the game, as he would put together some nice short-term scoring streaks, and then be blanked for at times multiple weeks. Audette centered what should have been Montreal's top line for the tournament, between Jeremiah Addison and Reway, but the trio took some time to figure each other out. As a line, their best moments came on the powerplay, where the hands of both Audette and Reway could be clearest displayed. I would rank Audette as my #2 forward, easily the top performer of his unit. He converted a Reway feed for an insurance marker against Toronto, and was generally more and more noticeable on his shifts as the tournament moved along. He showed solid defensive presence, breaking up numerous threatening plays in his own end in each game, indicating he may be able to continue developing at the center position. At 5'8", size will always be something he battles against, so while his play without the puck is encouraging, he will need more of a breakout offensive season in the AHL to show he may be able to transition to the top level.
Martin Reway: Returning to the ice was no small feat for the 22-year old Czech-born Slovak winger. His own confidence, stating he was here to play in the NHL, may have set expectations far too high, however, as it was quickly clear that patience will be required as he regains his timing and feet. Aside the occasional check thrown by the 5'9" forward, Reway was mostly unnoticeable without the puck on his stick. When controlling it at even strength, he turned it over equally as often as he made a nice play for a teammate. It was certainly not all negative, as the hands that had previously filled dreams of Hab fans from his international play were on his display with the man advantage, setting up Audette's goal and creating several other high caliber chances. The extra time and space in those situations seemed to suit him well at this stage, and it will now be on him to continue getting the other elements of his game back up to par at the AHL or ECHL level. Let's put a pause on judging his NHL future until he gets through a healthy season of action in North America.
DEFENSEMEN
Victor Mete: A top three skater for Montreal in the tournament along with Bitten and Audette, Mete's strength at supporting the rush was evident in both games. His great skating ability led to the creation of odd-man rushes, where he twice narrowly missed converting the back-side sneak play with a tap-in. He did score Montreal's opening goal against Ottawa, sneaking in off the blueline and firing a quick shot through traffic. While footspeed and puck-moving are his biggest assets, Mete was certainly adequate in his own end, despite his small stature often being towered over by opposing forwards. He was tried with several different partners, but in all circumstances he was the far better of the pair at carrying the play. Mete still has one season remaining with the London Knights, and quite possibly a trip to the World Juniors to represent Team Canada, before he will turn pro.
Josh Brook: For just over a period, Brook was looking like the best d-man in camp. Brook seems like a complete package, with strong physical play, adequate size and speed, and good puck-moving ability, he made sure a couple of Leafs (physically) felt his presence early on in game one. Unfortunately the 2017 second rounder had to leave the game midway through the second period with an upper-body injury, which would also hold him out of Saturday's match-up with the Sens. Hopefully it's nothing serious, but either way some promise was definitely evident in an admittedly very tiny sample size.
Noah Juulsen: If fans were looking for Juulsen to come in and dominate, they would have left disappointed. If you were looking for a fairly quiet, fairly solid performer with a good shot from the point, then you got what you were after in game one. Juulsen was rather unnoticeable, but for a defense-first blueliner, that is hardly an insult. Wearing the 'C' for the Habs rookies, as he had in Everett, the 6'2" blueliner had a less ideal night against Ottawa, guilty of a couple of turnovers for opposing chances. While Juulsen is comfortable laying on physical play of his own, he was on a couple of occasions thrown off when others were physical towards him. Dealing with bigger and older competition as he makes his transition to the pro game this year will be an important adjustment as he must not get taken out of the play as easily as he was this weekend. There is no reason to doubt his NHL potential based on these two games, but the timeline for his ascension to that level may be a bit longer than some had hoped.
Simon Bourque: Perhaps no player polarized me as much on the weekend as Bourque. I thought he was one of the team's best d-men Friday, great at holding the line, moving the puck around, and supporting the rush, but then one of the team's worst on Saturday, looking soft in his own end and coughing it up multiple times. The raw skills are clearly there, but consistency will need to follow as he transitions to AHL hockey this year. It's a crowded blueline in Laval, so if Bourque happens to be forced to spend some time in Brampton, don't think it means defeat in terms of him ever being an NHL rearguard. It is simply that he'll need to play regularly in order to develop that required consistency to his game.
GOALTENDER
Michael McNiven: The best overall performance of any Hab on the weekend, McNiven was stellar in Friday's 5-2 win which saw the Canadiens outshot by a decent margin. While he wasn't forced to make too many spectacular stops, he was routinely positionally sound, and was solid on rebound control. McNiven was thrown back in mid-way through Saturday's game, relieving tryout Antoine Samuel with the Canadiens trailing 5-1. After quickly making a few big stops, he was beaten on an odd-man rush created by a defensive zone turnover. Shortly after, he allowed his only "flop" of the tournament, misplaying a puck at the side of the net and seeing it bounce in behind him. While the game may have already been out of reach, that pair made it decidedly so, but did nothing to diminish an overall very positive impression left behind by McNiven. It will be interesting to see how the Canadiens manage their young goaltenders this year. Presumably, Charlie Lindgren is penciled in as Laval's starter. Zach Fucale's season in the ECHL may very well warrant further AHL evaluation, but McNiven can make a strong case to being the better of the two. Unlike in the NHL, AHL backups still see plenty of action, so it's tough to say which route (ECHL starter or AHL back-up) would be better for development, and highly possible that whichever choice is made is then flipped at some point during the year. If I had to make a wild prediction, I might be willing to put money on McNiven beginning to wrestle even AHL starting duties form Lindgren before the year is done. In any case, the Canadiens incredible depth between the pipes would be tough for any other team to rival league-wide.
TRYOUTS
The tryout forwards held their own weight quite well this year, unlike in past years where there was a clear drop-off between the NHL picks and invitees. Though perhaps that's saying almost as much about the lack of depth among forward draftees in attendance.
While Thomas Ebbing's three goals in two games pop off the scoresheet, the forward I was most impressed with was Alexandre Alain. The 6'1" 20-year old dramatically improved his stats in the QMJHL last season, leading his team and finishing just shy of the point-per-game mark, and was a constant threat on the ice this weekend. He was a hound on the puck and had a quick release, even if he wasn't able to capitalize as frequently as Ebbing. Alain is one I would certainly offer a main camp invite to, provided he was open to an AHL contract.
Jordan Boucher also made the most of his opportunity, though older than most at 23 and with already 9 AHL games of experience to his name (a tryout with the Binghamton Senators). Similar to Alain, he buzzed around the puck when on the ice, but was more noticeable in making smart plays and passes with it, particularly in the offensive zone. After Alain, he'd be next on my list for a tryout, closely followed by Ebbing and 20-year old James McEwan, who showed nice flashes at time but less consistently than the other three.
With this portion of camp in the books, it's only days before all the veterans check-in and we are treated to preseason hockey. Nothing seen this weekend should impact the opening night roster where there are already precious few jobs available and many hungry players seeking opportunities. All the same, it didn't stop the few mentioned above from giving the Canadiens' brass more to think about for the years to come.