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In Hainsight: What Should Have Been a Battle |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
Martin St-Louis said it a few days ago, when training camp comes, he’s not in the business of motivating players, if you need to be motivated to fight for your job, perhaps you’re not in the right job. Earlier this week, the Senators waived three good prospects in Lassi Thompson, 2018 first-round pick Jacob Bernard-Docker and 61st selection overall in the 2020 draft, Egor Sokolov. The Sens were lucky that only Lassi Thompson was claimed, and their week is a cautionary tale about the importance of managing your assets well. No team wants to lose assets for nothing and the Habs’ drafting over the last few years and the overabundance of defense prospect will put Montreal in a similar position soon unless Kent Hughes keeps the proactive approach that led him to trade Alexander Romanov at the 2021 Draft to acquire Kirby Dach.
As things stand, veteran defensemen Mike Matheson and David Savard are guaranteed a spot in the Canadiens’ blue line brigade. Impressive sophomore Kaiden Guhle is also guaranteed a spot and last season’s waiver claim off Winnipeg right-handed defenseman Jonathan Kovacevic has probably done enough to secure a spot on the less crowded right side of the defense. Chris Wideman’s injury takes him out of contention although had he been healthy, he would have been at best the team’s seventh defender like last season. Yesterday, Logan Mailloux who’s had a very good camp and showed a lot of offensive skills but a defensive game that needs polishing, was loaned to the Rocket, meaning that Justin Barron, Gustav Lindstrom, Jordan Harris, Arber Xhekaj and Mattias Norlinder are fighting for the remaining spots. In his media availability this morning, Martin St-Louis said that he wanted Mailloux to play a lot of minutes this season and that’s why he was cut yesterday. He did add a bit later that he wouldn’t bet on Mailloux not playing a game in the NHL this season, it takes more than 20 players to get through a season.
Out of the five Barron, Norlinder, Harris and Xhekaj do not have to clear waivers to be sent to Laval unlike Lindstrom. The latter is a right-shot defenseman who was acquired from the Wings in the Jeff Petry trade. Last season, he served as Detroit’s seventh blue liner and he’s already 24 years old. Unfortunately for him, he’s probably been, alongside Justin Barron, one of the least impressive defensemen at camp, they didn’t show up ready to battle for their job. As a result, I believe that Barron should start the season in Laval, just like last season even though he ended the year in Montreal. For some reason, the experience gained at the World Championships this off season don’t appear to have helped him, his decision making seems to be slower than it was before. As for Lindstrom, he hasn’t done enough to unseat one of the youngsters who spent the year in Montreal last season, and he should be waived. I don’t see a team claiming him and keeping him in their NHL roster.
In other words, I’d keep Norlinder, Harris and Xhekaj to complete the blue line and just like last year, I believe a rotation system should be put in place, one that could perhaps also include Kovacevic. Norlinder spent the last season in Laval and he’s earned a shot with the Canadiens based on his ability to quarterback a power play and his strong play at camp. On opening night, I think the pairings should look like this:
Matheson-Guhle
Harris-Savard
Xhekaj-Kovacevic
Extra: Norlinder
Why does Norlinder start as the extra? Because they were there last year and they deserve to play on opening night.
In net, there hasn’t really been that much of a battle, both Jake Allen and Samuel Montembeault have looked rusty, but Cayden Primeau hasn’t done enough to unseat either of them. He’s had some good moments, but he’s also showed a lack of confidence which tells me that he’s not ready to play in the NHL full time. Even though he needs to go through waivers to go down to Laval, I think the Habs will roll the dice on that one. A lot of goaltenders will be put on waivers between now and then, and there will be some far more experienced than Cayden Primeau. I know Gorton has said that the team is open to keeping three goaltenders around, but at the end of the say, I think they’ll prefer keeping two net minders and having extra forwards and defensemen. What do you think should happen on the blue line and in net?
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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