Montreal Canadiens: The Plan for David Schlemko’s Saturday

David Schlemko is currently on a conditioning stint with the Laval Rocket, but is there a chance that he plays on the Montreal Canadiens Saturday?

It’s been a while since David Schlemko took part in a game. In fact it’s been almost six months since his last one. His movement into the Montreal Canadiens organization hasn’t been as smooth as we wanted. The 30-year-old suffered from a hand injury missing out on the major events of training camp including the entirety of the preseason.

That whole situation made things a little complicated for the team with the emergence of Victor Mete as an option. Schlemko was put on IR to make sure that the Habs were cap compliant by that Tuesday deadline before the season opener. Now the veteran is healthy enough to play and has been send down to the Laval Rocket for a conditioning stint.

It was an eventful debut to say the least on Friday night. You can tell that it was the first game in a while for Schlemko early on. At times it was difficult to make it up and down the ice, but that changed as the game got older. Schlemko started taking more shots and more plays along the blue-line, which the Montreal Canadiens could use right about now. Additionally, he assisted on Daniel Carr‘s OT game winning goal.

Now that Schlemko has a game under his belt, what’s next? Does he join the Montreal Canadiens for their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, or does he stay with Laval and play at 3 PM for a rematch against the Binghamton Devils.

Schlemko’s Saturday

The one thing that stood out about Schlemko’s game on Friday was his ability to make that first pass. That was one of the things that stood out in Brett Lernout and Jakub Jerabek during the preseason. Jeff Petry has that ability as well but hasn’t had the opportunity to show it.

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Taking everything into consideration, it’s more likely that Schlemko stays with Laval. At the very least, he won’t be in that game against the Leafs. It’s not because of his own ability, but more because of the optics of it. Keep in mind that was his first game in months, additionally he hasn’t gotten the opportunity to practice with the team. It’ll be more likely that Schlemko joins the Habs next week.

There’s something else to keep in mind. Claude Julien wants to challenge this group. Obviously there are some on the blue-line who have been shaky season, in particular Jordie Benn. Brandon Davidson has been in the line-up as of late too and the jury is still out on him as to whether he stays in or not.

If Schlemko joins the Canadiens, he’s going to be taking one of those two spots. We’ll have to see which one it is. For the time being it’ll be best for the Alberta native to continue to play with the Rocket and work on his game so he’ll be ready when the time comes.

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Do you think Schlemko will play with the Habs tomorrow? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.