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Montreal Canadiens: Upcoming training camp cuts to get to the final roster

By Omar L

TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 24: Montreal Canadiens Left Wing Artturi Lehkonen (62) celebrates after scoring a goal with Montreal Canadiens Center Jesperi Kotkaniemi (15) and Montreal Canadiens Left Wing Kenny Agostino (47) during the first period of the NHL preseason game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs on September 24, 2018, at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, ON, Canada. (Photograph by Julian Avram/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 24: Montreal Canadiens Left Wing Artturi Lehkonen (62) celebrates after scoring a goal with Montreal Canadiens Center Jesperi Kotkaniemi (15) and Montreal Canadiens Left Wing Kenny Agostino (47) during the first period of the NHL preseason game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs on September 24, 2018, at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, ON, Canada. (Photograph by Julian Avram/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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The Montreal Canadiens are heading into the final phase of training camp, and the final roster is getting closer to being determined.

If you’ve had the chance to stare blankly at a calendar, you may have noticed October 3rd is next week. The 2018-19 season is literally right around the corner, but the Montreal Canadiens have decisions to make to cut their training camp roster down.

With two preseason games left, the time for players on the bubble to impress Claude Julien and the rest of the coaching staff is running out. Some names have been doing that consistently, however, and they’re most likely to survive the next round of camp omissions ahead of the matches against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators.

Julien mentioned after Monday night’s 5-1 win over the Leafs that the final roster will begin to take shape further into the night or Tuesday.

Wednesday’s match may still be an opportunity for bubble players to make an impression leaving the final for the full roster, save for Max Domi, to get a game together ahead of the season opener.

So, who gets the cut? With the Laval Rocket having opened up their training camp, the likes of Hunter Shinkaruk, Byron Froese, and Michal Morovcik to name a few will most likely be sent down to join the rest of the team. But what was a major positive in Monday’s win were the number of Montreal Canadiens players who stood out.

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Some may think that would be a given when you see the roster the Leafs had on the ice. Nevertheless, the Habs played with speed and executed well. Names such as Jesperi Kotkaniemi are making Julien’s roster decisions hard while Rinat Valiev and Simon Desprès (even that funny moment) have improved throughout camp.

What will be interesting to see is who the Montreal Canadiens will have on the ice at the Bell Centre Wednesday night. Mike Babcock told media he expects Julien to throw more of an NHL roster at him and plans to act accordingly. Who Julien has out there could be indicative of who he sees as options to make the final roster for the team.

The blueline may be the main point of focus here given the number of players fighting to make the top six. Victor Mete, Noah Juulsen, Karl Alzner, and Jeff Petry are virtually locked in as the top four. Mike Reilly has looked solid in the preseason and most importantly, is steadier defensively than at the end of last season. But Xavier Ouellet is around and still pushing.

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These are all good decisions for Julien to have and that’s the beauty of internal competition. No one knew it at first, but last year’s preseason was a decent indicator of how the regular season went. Whether the Montreal Canadiens come out of the gate hot is too early to tell. However, if the level of play we’ve seen so far continues, they should be a fun team to watch.

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