Montreal Canadiens: Standouts from the 2018 Rookie Tournament

Will Bitten

Watching him in junior, there were always signs of him being a threat at higher levels. He had a less than ideal performance in the playoffs with the Hamilton Bulldogs, but one thing that’s always been consistent about Will Bitten was the speed behind his game. It allowed him to bypass defending players and breakaway creating scoring chances for himself and his teammates. Sound familiar?

But it’s more than his speed. The high pace that he plays out make him a dangerous player out there, and particularly annoying for the other team. Bitten stood out on the ice for both games consistently and the clear highlight of the weekend for him was during the Leafs game.

After picking up the puck in the neutral zone, the 2016 third-round pick took off beating three Leafs players to the net. Zachary Bouthillier made the initial save, but the puck trickled down allowing Cole Fonstad to score after the resulting traffic in front. It’s that type of speed that can lead to a lot of offence at any level, and with that in combination with his work ethic, Bitten should be able to have a productive rookie season in the AHL.

You always look for progress from a player every year. Bitten stood out at last year’s tournament and did the same thing at this one, but even better.

Cale Fleury

He only got a single game, but I liked what Fleury brought to the table. The physical element that he brings to his playing style was effective when it counted. What stood out the most was his play along the blueline. He wasn’t as mobile as another defenceman I’ll be mentioning later, but Fleury activated off the point at times skating in to get a shot on net.

Additionally, he had the confidence to skate low to help establish pressure in the offensive zone and got back in time to secure the defensive line. Sample size hurts here. However, Fleury did the things that will work in his favour come training camp.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi

As great as it would’ve been to see Kotkaniei completely dominate out there, it was also pretty unlikely. Any European player will tell you that the transition to the smaller ice surface isn’t a joke, and it was something the 18-year-old had to go through as the tournament went on. What always stood out about him was his ability to anticipate the play before it came to be and the faster-required reaction time got to Kotkaniemi early.

Those Ottawa Players, especially Brady Tkachuk, took the body to him which may have been another concern. However, Kotkaniemi being a target used his skill to play around those hits and drew a decent amount of penalties for the Montreal Canadiens. On a positive note, his play away from the puck was fairly sound, especially his positioning.

Game Two against the Leafs was a lot better, and he made more of those passing player we often saw overseas. A pair in particular on the power play were very impressive. And it also ties into his primary assist on T.J. Melancon’s goal to bring the Habs within one. More of those are sure to be seen at training camp once he gets further used to the speed of the game.

Josh Brook

Brook is such a delight to watch when he carries the puck. He was definitely a standout on defence for both games. The 2017 second-round pick looked very poised on the backend for the Montreal Canadiens, and I especially liked the way he contributed to zone entries. During the Leafs game, Brook had a pair of moments where he would carry the puck out of his end and dish it to the winger on the right waiting along the offensive blueline. The first time didn’t work, but Brook ended up with the puck again and this time past it to the player on the left and this time it worked.

Considering how important zone entries are nowadays, seeing that was big for me. Brook was playing with a lot more confidence, and that’s something to help improve his game even further.

Lukas Vejdemo

Definitely a top performer for the Montreal Canadiens over the weekend. Vejdemo really stood out as being a two-way option for the team and quickly gained the trust of the coaching staff early on. He was reliable defensively and did his best to suppress the scoring chances of those he was set to play against. The score of those games would suggest otherwise, but he did a good job on both fronts.

Another thing was his ability to create scoring chances for his linemates. A lot of that came in the game against the Leafs starting with the 4-on-4 chance he got going for Melancon. Vejdemo kept it going getting a few looks after a stint on the penalty kill in the second period and he and invite Joël Teasdale put in some hard work at the end of the game to get the tying goal.

We’ve all been focused on Kotkaniemi being getting a shot to make the team, and for good reason, but Vejdemo did a good job in showing the Montreal Canadiens that when he said he wants to play in North America, the NHL was a possibility as well.

Honourable Mentions

Melancon’s name has appeared a few times here. Despite being set up by others, he did do a good job on getting in on those scoring chances. He truly does have a nose for the offence even as a defenceman and seeing the way he plays puts context behind his 44 and 53-point seasons in the QMJHL (16-17) and ECHL (17-18) respectively. There’s definitely talent there, and that activation from the blueline could prove to be an asset for Laval.

Michael McNiven deserves to get a shoutout as well. Although three goals went past him, there was little he could do about them. Maybe the first one, but the second tally was from a scrum in front of him while the third went off Michal Moracvik’s skate. There was that ridiculous save he made in the latter half of the third period which is pretty redeemable in my books.

Coach Bouchard

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For the second time that weekend, Bouchard had to watch something no coach ever wants to see: his player having to be stretchered off the ice. The Montreal Canadiens were getting dominated at that point of the game, but everything changed to start the second. They came out flying laying out hit after hit while Michael Pezzetta had a fun chat with Leafs Andrew Nielsen.

The team responded, and they responded well, taking control of the match after falling down 2-0 quickly. Afterwards, Bouchard made it clear that the players who were on the ice when Tyszka was hit and didn’t respond were benched. That included Bitten, Fleury, Aleksi Katerinakis, and Allan McShane. Apparently, the players were warned after little response was seen when Jake Evans was forced off the ice as well.

This is what the young Habs prospects need. Skill training is an essential element to the game, but to have a coach holding his players accountable no matter the degree of the competition is what’s going to make Bouchard a special person within the organization.

He may not have done anything out there with a stick and skates, but Bouchard is just as responsible for what happened in the rest of that game as the players were.

Now things transition to Habs training camp. It’ll be interesting to see if those who stood out continue that trend. As I mentioned before, not many were talking about Vejdemo and his chance of playing for Montreal. If he keeps up what he did over the weekend, then he’ll have all the room to do it.