Montreal Canadiens Prospects Pushing For Limited Opportunities

A total 23 of the Montreal Canadiens’ prospects will begin Rookie Camp on September 11, with five days to do what every young hockey player dreams of doing: make someone upstairs wonder how the hell they are going to find room for him.

That is not an insignificant challenge this year.

The Rookie Camp runs from September 11-15, after which the best of the hopefuls will get an invitation to the Canadiens’ main training camp. Over the past 10 years, an average of 62 players per season have participated in Montreal’s main camp. The lowest total was 42 before the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, while the highest came before the 2022-23 season, when current management was beginning to put its stamp on the organization. Last season, 60 players and hopefuls took to the ice.

Sixty sounds like a lot of hockey players until you look at the depth chart and realize that most of them are fighting for very few chairs when the music stops.

With Brendan Gallagher, Patrik Laine and Joe Veleno gone, Montreal currently has 11 forwards pencilled into its opening-day lineup, not including Zachary Bolduc, who remains unsigned. Those 11 are:

• Nick Suzuki
• Cole Caufield
• Juraj Slafkovsky
• Josh Anderson
• Phillip Danault
• Kirby Dach
• Alex Newhook
• Jake Evans
• Alexandre Texier
• Oliver Kapanen
• Ivan Demidov
• Zachary Bolduc (unsigned)

Assuming Bolduc eventually puts his name on the dotted line, that gives Martin St. Louis 12 forwards who are about as close to locks as you can get before training camp starts. Only Demidov is waiver exempt. But we all know that isn’t happening, right?

On defence, the situation is even more interesting.

• Noah Dobson
• Lane Hutson
• Mike Matheson
• Kaiden Guhle
• Alexandre Carrier
• Jayden Struble
• Arber Xhekaj (unsigned)

Once Xhekaj signs, Montreal will have seven defensemen competing for seven spots, and none of them is waiver exempt. None of the 7 defensemen listed above are waiver exempt.

That is where things get particularly uncomfortable for some of the prospects.

In goal, the Canadiens have three legitimate candidates under contract in Jakub Dobeš, Samuel Montembeault and Jacob Fowler. Dobeš is expected to get the bulk of the starts, Montembeault provides veteran experience and Fowler remains one of the organization’s most intriguing young assets. Only Fowler is waiver exempt.

If Montreal goes with the traditional 14 forwards, seven defensemen and two goaltenders, and Bolduc and Xhekaj are both under contract, and barring any injuries, there are essentially two roster spots available.

Two.

That is not a lot of real estate for an organization with this much young talent coming up behind the established players.

Adam Engström has already demonstrated that he can play at the NHL level and will have every reason to believe he can force management into making an uncomfortable decision. David Reinbacher, meanwhile, will arrive with something to prove after being selected fifth overall in 2023. He will not need to remind anyone why he was drafted that high, but he will certainly want to show them. Then there is Maksymilian Szuber, who was acquired in the Joshua Roy trade, who might be worth watching.

The forward competition may be even more fascinating.

Owen Beck could have an advantage simply because of his familiarity with the organization and the work he has already put in, but training camp has a funny way of turning assumptions into confetti. Newly acquired Brett Berard will want to make a memorable first impression, while Samuel Poulin and Sasha Pastujov will be looking for an opportunity to remind the Canadiens that prospects do not always develop according to the neat little timelines we create for them. Tyler Thorpe and Florian Xhekaj also bring something the organization needs: size, physicality and a willingness to make opponents question whether coming down the middle of the ice was really such a good idea.

And then there is the possibility of the unexpected.

Who, after all, would have guessed back in 2012 that a fifth-round pick would force Marc Bergevin to find room for him? Brendan Gallagher was selected 147th overall, but he didn’t seem particularly interested in respecting the depth chart. He fought his way into the NHL, eventually becoming one of the most important players and personalities in the Canadiens’ organization.

That is the lesson prospects should take into this camp. Or they can look at the Canadiens’ head coach, Martin St-Louis. The Hall of Famer was never drafted and was put on waivers by the Calgary Flames before making it big with the Tampa Bay Lightning and the New York Rangers.

The depth chart is not a wall. It is a challenge.

The Canadiens have more young talent knocking on the door than they have available keys to hand out. Some prospects will make a serious push, and one or two may make management’s decisions considerably more difficult than anticipated. That is exactly what you want from a healthy organization. But talent alone does not create roster space.

Montreal’s current depth also means Kent Hughes may have to be patient. His history since taking over has shown that he has generally preferred making significant additions and changes during the off-season, rather than routinely reshaping the roster in-season. His deadline moves so far have tended to come when the Canadiens were sellers, while his more meaningful roster construction has generally taken place before the season begins.

This summer has seemingly been something of an exception although admittedly, there is still time to make a move or two before the puck drops on a new season.

And that could make the coming season particularly interesting. If several prospects prove they are ready before Christmas, Hughes will have a decision to make. He can wait, he can make a trade, he can expose someone to waivers, or he can do what every general manager eventually has to do: move somebody out to make room for somebody else.

For now, though, the Canadiens have something they haven’t had in quite some time. A problem caused by having too much talent rather than too little. Those are the kinds of problems hockey people generally don’t mind having. Especially when the kids are coming to camp with a point to prove and only two chairs are sitting empty.

If training camp was a game of musical chair, a lot of young men would be sitting on the floor when the music stopped. Unless some manage to convince the Montreal Canadiens’ brass to make more room for them.