Montreal Canadiens Will Have Lots of D Depth With Laval Rocket
The Montreal Canadiens have a solid group of defensemen for next season. They will also have plenty of options for callups from the Laval Rocket who will have an excellent defense.
The Montreal Canadiens signed Ben Chiarot to solidify their group of defensemen. They don’t have the best defenders in the league, but they have a solid group that should help out Carey Price enough to ensure they are in most games next season.
Shea Weber and Jeff Petry are the cream of the crop for sure. A supporting cast of Victor Mete, Brett Kulak, Chiarot and likely Christian Folin to start the season is not too shabby. With Price in goal, a not too shabby defense will be able to keep goals against low.
However, if things do not work out well for the Canadiens defensively, they will have plenty of options to choose from with the Laval Rocket to shake things up.
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The first player called up should be Noah Juulsen. In fact, there is a real chance he makes the team out of training camp. He is likely already a better defenseman than Folin, but Juulsen played just 24 games last season due to serious eye injuries after being hit with two pucks in the face.
It might make the most sense to start the 22 year old in the minors to get his confidence and timing back after missing so many games last season. He is a smart, physical, steady defender so it might take a little bit of time to get back in game shape. Let him sort those things out with the Laval Rocket and bring him up when he proves he is ready.
Juulsen will be joined by a couple of impressive right shooting defense prospects with Laval. Cale Fleury made his Rocket debut last season and proved to be a solid defensive presence as a rookie. He plays a similar safe, defensive style to Juulsen but at 20 years old is just a bit behind Juulsen in his development.
The prospect with the most potential is Josh Brook. The right shooting 20 year old turned pro at the end of last season, after scoring 75 points in 59 games with the Moose Jaw Warriors. Brook is a top-notch prospect for the Canadiens, but he may start the season as a third pairing guy in Laval because Juulsen and Fleury are just a bit more seasoned at this point.
Juulsen, Fleury and Brook make an exceptional right side for an AHL team, and they will all have good partners on the left side to pair up with. Though the right side boasts young prospects, the left side provides more of a veteran leadership for the Rocket.
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Xavier Ouellet played 19 games with the Canadiens last season before being sent to Laval. He took on a leadership role, quickly becoming team captain and played well the rest of the season for the Rocket. In 47 games he had 28 points and would be a great partner for any of the young players on the right side.
David Sklenicka and Gustav Olofsson will be interesting to watch next season. Sklenicka has a lot of experience playing internationally with the Czech Republic and was solid, yet not flashy with the Rocket a year ago. Olofsson was hurt most of last season, but played 41 games for the Minnesota Wild in 2017-18. If healthy, he would be a great leader and mentor for Juulsen, Fleury and Brook.
Another interesting option will be Finnish defenseman Otto Leskinen. The 22 year old left defenseman scored 31 points in 57 games in Liiga last year. He looked great at development camp at the end of June and could be a big point producer for the Rocket.
That is seven defensemen for Laval and we haven’t even mentioned Karl Alzner yet. The veteran defender is set to have a $4.626 million cap hit for the next three years, but could be a healthy scratch in Laval some nights. When he is in the lineup, he could provide veteran leadership and a steadying defensive presence as a partner for Brook.
That is a lot of depth for an AHL team. There are solid young prospects in Juulsen, Brook and Fleury, seasoned AHL veterans who are young enough to still have NHL potential in Ouellet, Sklenicka and Olofsson, and an intriguing newcomer in Leskinen.
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That is a lot of depth for a minor league team. Every NHL team has injuries to deal with and disappointing seasons from certain players. When the injury bug bites, the Habs will have several options in Laval that can step in and play well for the Montreal Canadiens. It’s an asset that not many NHL teams can boast and will come in handy for the Habs next season.