Montreal Canadiens: Storylines heading into the 2018 Rookie Camp

2. Need for Speed

The games this weekend will be a first for many to see how Joël Bouchard runs a bench in a semi-competitive setting. Bouchard has always been a coach who values players who play fast and doesn’t like to use too much structure. Essentially, it’s a “let the players play” mentality which isn’t seen too often.

That may lead to this Habs prospect team being very offensive, and they have the potential to do so given their roster that has a lot of goals. Will Bitten, Allan McShane, and Alexandre Alain for starters should be leaders in that regard, but it can also members of the blueline to spread their wings a little bit.

Seeing as how a good chunk of these players are expected to be on the Laval Rocket this season, we could be getting an early preview of how the team performs every night.

3. Making the Best of an Invitation

The Montreal Canadiens will have six invitees at rookie camp who could work their way to contracts in some way shape or form. Think back to last year with the likes of Jordan Boucher and Thomas Ebbing he performed well and were signed to AHL contracts. They started their season in the ECHL with the Brampton Beast, and it didn’t take too long for them to get called up to Laval. It took longer for both sides to get pen to paper, but Alain was originally a camp invite who worked his way to an entry-level deal.

Brandon Hagel is probably at the top of the list of invites who look to be done with junior. An injury held back the number of games he played in Red Deer last year, but he still managed to score at a point-per-game pace. Production like that could warrant some tougher competition.

Andrew Zadarnowski of Habs Eyes on the Prize brought up an interesting point on Twitter yesterday. Is it possible that some of the players Bouchard had in Blainville-Boisbriand have a slight advantage due to familarity?

Aleksi Anttalainen, Joël Teasdale, and Alexander Katerinakis are all coming from that organization. However, only Katerinakis is eligible to play in the minors as he turned 20 last April. Laval may be his ticket to the higher level.