Five Thoughts From Montreal Canadiens First Scrimmage

The Montreal Canadiens training camp hit the ice for the first time today, and jumped right into it with a Team Red vs. Team White scrimmage this morning. The team’s played two 25 minute periods at full 5 on 5 strength at the Canadiens practice facility in Brossard.

It was just the first time these players hit the ice together as a group, and though it is extremely early to make an conclusions, a few things jumped out at me during the game. Here are the top five.

1. The line combinations were interesting to see, as players can obvious still move around the lineup, but the lines were not picked at random either. The lines were as follows:

Team Red

May 12, 2014; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens forward

(20) reacts with teammates

(67) and

(51) after scoring a goal against the Boston Bruins during the second period in game six of the second round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

Pacioretty – Desharnais – Parenteau

Bourque – Eller – De la Rose

Prust – Malhotra – Weise

Hudon – Hensick – Thomas

Markov – Gilbert

Tinordi – Pateryn

Bouillon – Nygren

Team White

Moen – Galchenyuk – Gallagher

Andrighetto – Plekanec – Sekac

Bournival – Dumont – Scherbak

Bowman – Dowell – McCarron

Emelin – Subban

Beaulieu – Weaver

Drewiske – Dietz

2. I thought the Canadiens fleeced the Colorado Avalanche the day that P.A. Parenteau arrived in exchange for Daniel Briere, but it looked even better today. I always liked Parenteau dating back to his New York Islander days, and throughout his two seasons in Colorado, and I think he will be an excellent fit with the Canadiens.

He played alongside Max Pacioretty and David Desharnais today, on the Habs top line, and his vision, hands and passing make him a top candidate to start the season on the right side of the Canadiens top sniper.

Jun 27, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Nikita Scherbak puts on a team sweater after being selected as the number twenty-six overall pick to the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the 2014 NHL Draft at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

3. Alex Galchenyuk made the move to center to begin camp, and though he looked fine, I don’t see why he was on a line with Travis Moen. It is almost like the Habs management don’t want him to stand out so they can appease the fans by saying they tried him at center, but then move him back to the wing to start the year.

It is a bit of a leap to make that statement after one scrimmage, but how good do you expect Galchenyuk to look when he is saddled by Moen? Give him a decent young offensive winger like Sven Andrighetto or Nikita Scherbak, or even Michael Bournival, or just move him back to the wing now.

4. Speaking of Scherbak, the Canadiens first round pick from last June looked very comfortable in his first scrimmage with the Habs, and showed off plenty of skill. He clearly has great speed, exceptional skills with the puck, can distribute it well, and has a great shot.

He is still a very long shot to crack the NHL roster, but Scherbak looks like he may have been a steal of a pick at 26^th overall.

5. It is a good thing Scherbak looks so good, because the Canadiens first round pick a year ago failed to impress. The Habs went off the board to select Michael McCarron at 25^th overall in 2013, and I am still scratching my head trying to figure out why they made the decision.

His enormous size is a strength, but McCarron did little else well in last year’s training camp, struggled in the OHL all season with the London Knights, and looked outmatched again today. His skating is not only a concern, it is nowhere close to NHL level, and his puck skills were only hidden today because he rarely touched the puck.

The team’s will be back in action tomorrow at 11 AM Eastern time for the rematch. The Habs first exhibition game is on Tuesday night when they host the Boston Bruins.