Canadiens: The Big Difference About This Year’s Rookie Camp Roster
There won’t be any big names at the Montreal Canadiens’ rookie camp, but it will still be an opportunity for fans to get a first taste of the 2026-27 season.
Video Transcript
Well, I, I think because they were extremely proactive in terms of their getting their young players signed to long-term extensions before the cap blew up, it’s clearly in the East, it’s clearly the Montreal Canadiens.
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Because you have Lane Hudson, you have Dobson, you have the Slafkovsky, Suzuki, Caufield, now Demidov all signed.
You extended Dobes, you’ve got Fowler coming.
I mean, they’ve got prospects like Michael Hage, like David Reinbacher.
They got, the Alexander Zherov in the KHL who’s blowing up.
I mean, it, it’s an organization that is just steeped with prospects, and they’ve got all these core players locked up long-term for really inexpensive money.
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So that, that gives them such flexibility to be able to go out and add players, either in free agency or to take on salary, and that’s an advantage that, you know, many teams don’t have.
Yeah, Eric, you kinda touched on this earlier talking about Washington and the way that they’ve been able to set themselves up for the future, to have some sustained success here.
But do you see them, or are there any other teams that stick out to you as, as teams that have set themselves up well for this longer Stanley Cup window?
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Yeah, I’m gonna go to the West here, and I’m gonna talk about the San Jose Sharks.
I mean, they were already pretty close to making the playoffs this past season, and nobody’s gonna, argue that Macklin Celebrini isn’t gonna have more than a handful of appearances in the Stanley Cup playoffs, in his career.
And just what they’ve been able to, to build around him now is just so impressive.
Obviously, there’s a bit of luck involved landing the second overall pick this year, getting Ivar Stenberg, who’s looking like he’s going to already be injected in a middle six, maybe a top six role with the Sharks.
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The only thing that kinda worries me is, and this happens a lot in, in the history of the NHL, is GMs sort of get impatient and they try to accelerate these rebuilds.
Like, we’ve already seen a handful of moves that I, I personally didn’t really love the Jacob Trouba signing or the trade for, for Darnell Nurse, only because of the numbers that are attached to those two players.
I think they can definitely bring you value every day in the NHL, whether it’s in a locker room or the on-ice, perspective.
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But, I think if they just sort of stay the course, I wouldn’t be surprised if they not only make the playoffs this year, but for the foreseeable future, I think they’ll be a, a, a threat to win the Cup here.
