Montreal Canadiens: Fresh legs with Nikita Korostelev and Anthony Beauregard

There were new faces added to the Montreal Canadiens organization as Nikita Korostelev and Anthony Beauregard were signed to tryouts with the Laval Rocket.

As the days to the end of the regular season countdown for the Montreal Canadiens and Laval Rocket, doors to add more talent open up. College free agents who are out of the playoffs have started to sign contracts with NHL teams, and the start of the playoffs in the OHL, WHL, and QMJHL have a heap of players not lucky enough to be on one of those teams may be looking to make the jump to the pros.

The Laval Rocket jumped into this search for a talent yesterday by signing Nikita Korostelev and Anthony Beauregard to amateur tryouts. So who are these guys exactly? Let’s take a look starting with the player many may not have heard of before.

Beauregard is a 22-year-old centre playing right in the team’s backyard at Concordia University. The Quebec native has had a fantastic season leading the league in points with 19 goals and 41 assists in 28 games. Additionally, his play this year earned him the Senator Joseph A. Sullivan Trophy which goes to the most outstanding player of the year.

Point production has been a part of Beauregard’s game dating back to his time in the QMJHL. He put a total of 223 points in 207 games with Val-d’Or Foreurs. The 2015/16 was the forward’s best as he scored 93 points as an overager. This isn’t the first time Beauregard has been considered to take the next step with an organization. He played in 21 games for the Indy Fuel (Chicago Blackhawks ECHL affiliate) and put up 10 points before heading to Concordia for the rest of the year.

As Andrew Zadarnowski brought up on Twitter, this is the second year in a row where the Habs AHL team signed a top scorer from USports. Last season it was Guillaume Asselin who had an underwhelming performance with the Brampton Beast. He is now playing in the Slovakia league with HC Banska Bystrica and has found success there.

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It’s unfair to compare situations, but it’s understandable to have the need to temper expectations on Beauregard. His point production is one thing, however, he’ll need to be able to play with pace and withstand the grind that can sometimes be prominent in the AHL.

Korostelev is a different story. The Toronto Maple Leafs took a shot on him with their seventh-round selection in the 2015 draft. The 21-year-old was part of several Leafs development camps and couldn’t find a way to earn an entry-level contract in an era where drafting and development were at the forefront.

His raw skill is undeniable though. Korostelev was close to a point-per-game in his draft year (53 points in 55 games) and scored 30 goals and 45 points in the OHL as an overager. The Russia native is very creative and has a fast accurate shot but can also set up his teammates very well. Fun fact, the coaches in the OHL voted Korostelev with having one of the hardest shots in the league.

What has kept him from reaching the next level and earning a full contract with an organization is consistency. It’s tough to know which variant of Korostelev you’ll get each night. Despite his ability to make a pretty play or score a highlight reel goal, there are moments where you won’t notice whether he’s on the ice or not. That may have been what left him undrafted in his second time around in the 2017 draft resulting in him joining the Peterborough Petes.

Hopefully all that is completely washed out of his game and he makes the most out of his opportunity with the Laval Rocket.

It’s not clear when either Korostelev or Beauregard will get in the Rocket’s lineup. Laval plays three games this weekend two of which are against the Charlotte Checkers. There’s no reason why the forwards shouldn’t draw into at least one of them.

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What do you expect from Korostelev or Beauregard? Will they make the most out of this tryout? Let us know in the comments below.