Montreal Canadiens: Victor Mete at the World Juniors
By Omar L
It’s getting closer to the selection process for the IIHF U20 World Junior Hockey Tournament and Montreal Canadiens rookie Victor Mete could be an option.
November is a solid month in hockey. Not only are we getting deep enough in the NHL to start making end of season predictions, but junior players are going to be a focus soon enough. TSN‘s Bob McKenzie is a go-to source for information surrounding the World Junior Hockey Tournament in December and January, and he’s already gotten started for this years coverage. Whether the Montreal Canadiens will be involved again this time around is another story.
According to McKenzie’s article on Monday, the selection process is getting started with the beginning of the Canada-Russia series. Team Canada at the World Juniors will have several options to build the 23-man roster both from players in major junior, and the NHL.
When listing eligible players in the NHL, McKenzie mentioned Victor Mete from the Montreal Canadiens. The rookie won’t be turning 20 until June, so he could very well be a part of the six who man Canada’s blueline if the organization allows him to go. Should they though?
Mete’s climb to the Habs’ roster was one of the shocks of training camp. Seeing Claude Julien truly giving Mete a chance has shown to an out already. Mete has played in all of the team’s so far this season putting together only two points. The rookie has spent the majority of the season playing with Shea Weber on the top pair who has been an impactful mentor for him.
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The 19-year-old’s confidence and level of play has been nothing but beneficial for the Habs. He’s proven to be an effective puck-mover and has been able to keep up with the speed and grit of the NHL despite his size. His skill on the backhand has been a solid addition to Montreal’s second power play unit.
However, Mete’s time on ice has taken a hit as of late. Instead of playing his usual 15+ minutes, Julien has relegated the rookie to 10 minutes in these last two games. Looking back to Sunday’s game even, Mete was playing on the bottom pairing with Joseph Morrow.
If this continues and the Montreal Canadiens decide to monitor Mete’s minutes, allowing him to play for Team Canada may not be a bad idea. Of course keeping in mind that he needs to be given an invitation to participate.
It’ll be interesting to see what the Habs decide to do here. There’s a long tradition of players going off to the World Juniors and coming back with new experiences. Mete spending time with team Canada will do nothing but good, even if they end up not winning.
Do you think Mete should go to the World Juniors if invited? Let us know in the comments.