Montreal Canadiens: Enemy’s Insight – A rejuvenated Carey Price
By Omar L
1) How did Kerby Rychel look in his debut with the Montreal Canadiens? Is there anything there?
You’d want to know, wouldn’t you? Anyway, Kerby Rychel’s debut with the Montreal Canadiens was something that fans were looking forward to for a little while considering his production in the AHL with the Laval Rocket. The magical day for him was Sunday night against the New Jersey Devils.
Rychel started out on the third line and was an energy option for the Habs as you would expect. However, it was much more than that. He along with Nikita Scherbak brought some decent pace to the team that night. In fact, Rychel had a nifty set up to Mike Reilly in the slot that also drew a penalty for the Montreal Canadiens as Devils goaltender Keith Kinkaid tripped him at the side of the net.
The best thing about the 23-year-old’s debut was that it didn’t look any different from his play in the minors. Rychel was pushing the pace and using his size to overwhelm players along the boards. However, he took another step forward in the right direction in his second game with the team against the Winnipeg Jets, which is saying something considering how effective they were despite sitting five of their best players.
He easily answered back to the Jets attempts at intimidation both physically and on the scoreboard. The 2013 first-round pick scored his first in a Habs uniform to tie the game at three in the perfect way. It was a very Rychel-esk goal if you’ve seen him play with the Laval Rocket and Toronto Marlies as he fought and maintained bodily position in front of the net and deflected Jeff Petry‘s shot.
Kerby Rychel redirects a Jeff Petry shot for his first goal in a Canadiens uniform! pic.twitter.com/2L1lDRhowd
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla) April 4, 2018
To answer the second part of your question, there is definitely something there. Rychel is an easy option to sign for another year or two just to see what he can do in a full NHL season. No one is saying that he can be a guy that goes right into your top-six, but he’s a player that can give you quality minutes regardless of where he pays and have an in-game impact in more ways than scoring.