Montreal Canadiens: Making NHL debuts, Matthew Peca’s role, Plekanec bonuses

Kamal Rehman: I’m going to say eight and of that eight, none will be the players every Habs fan would love to see with the big club. Of course, I am talking about Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Ryan Poehling. Letting them mature and develop in Finland and the NCAA respectively will be better for the future Montreal Canadiens centres in the long run. I am pretty sure we will see the two newly signed Czech defensemen Michal Moravcik and David Sklenicka. I don’t know if they’ll make the club out of training camp but with injuries, we might see them get the call-up. Youngsters like Jake Evans, Will Bitten, Lukas Vejdemo, Hayden Verbeek, Alexandre Alain, and Jeremiah Addison might make their NHL debuts later in the season.

Omar White: The easiest answer is Kotkaniemi who I think is going to get at least nine games to start the year. The Habs signed him to an entry-level contract fairly quickly when they could’ve waited, allowing him to participate in both the Rookie Tournament in September and training camp. Whether he remains on the team past the threshold will depend on how well he fairs in that small window, but Kotkaniemi has done enough in the last two months to warrant a look.

Other options will have injuries play a role, but I do think Daniel Audette is a player the Habs should bring up at some time. Audette is entering the final year of his entry-level contract and has had a decent impact in his two AHL seasons. There’s a lot of skill that comes with his style of play, and hopefully, he isn’t buried underneath the number of new faces expected to play on the Laval Rocket this year.

Audette is someone the Habs should evaluate first-hand and not just allow to leave without a qualifying offer at the end of the year. If there’s something there, great, give him a one or two year deal and see where that goes.