Montreal Canadiens: Where Will Noah Juulsen Start Next Season?

The Montreal Canadiens drafted Noah Juulsen in the first round of the 2015 NHL Draft. Is he ready to start the season with the Habs, or is it back to the Laval Rocket?

The Montreal Canadiens took a physical, two-way defenceman when they drafted Noah Juulsen with the 26th pick in the 2015 NHL Draft. The team had gone through a rough patch of first round picks starting in 2009. Louis Leblanc, Nathan Beaulieu and Jarred Tinordi failed to becoming full-time NHL players.

Alex Galchenyuk was taken third overall in 2013 and though he became an NHL regular, it was hoped he would be the Habs first line centre for many years. He turned out to be a middle six winger and is now playing for his third organization.

Michael McCarron and Nikita Scherbak were the next first rounders. Scherbak just signed in the KHL after leaving Montreal via waivers and not getting an NHL contract for next season. McCarron was given a qualifying offer for next season and remains unsigned. He has not been able to make much of an impact yet.

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Then, the Habs took Juulsen. He was coming off a 2014-15 season with the Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey League where he scored nine goals and 52 points in 68 games. The Surrey, British Columbia native is a big, strong defender at 6’2″ and 193 pounds. He showed all the signs of being a solid two-way defenceman in the future.

The following season, Juulsen’s offence dried up, but so did most of the Silvertips scoring. They were a very defensive minded team, built around goaltender Carter Hart and defensive players like Juulsen who played a huge role, though he scored just 28 points.

In 2016-17, Juulsen found his offensive game again, scoring 12 goals and 34 points in 49 games with Everett, while serving as the team’s captain. His offence was back, and his defensive game was better than ever, as the was the shutdown defenceman on by far the best defensive team in the WHL. Everett allowed 19 less goals than any other team in the league that season.

Juulsen turned pro in 2017-18, and split time with the Laval Rocket and the Montreal Canadiens. He played 31 games for the Rocket before being called up to the Habs. Juulsen finished that season playing 23 games in Montreal, scoring a goal and adding two assists.

Last season, Juulsen started the year where he ended the previous one, with the Canadiens. With Shea Weber out due to injury when the first pucks dropped, there was room on the right side behind Jeff Petry for a 21 year old like Juulsen to earn some real ice time.

Juulsen started the year playing about 20 minutes per night against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins and Los Angeles Kings. He played well enough, a solid defensive game but he was mostly on the third pairing after the first few games.

Juulsen didn’t hit the 20 minute mark again until November 17th against the Vancouver Canucks. He had four points in the previous five games and was earning a bigger role, showing signs of the dependable two-way defenceman that was predicted on draft day.

Then came the game against the Washington Capitals on November 19th. Juulsen was hit in the face with the puck on two separate occasions suffering an eye injury. He was out of the lineup for a month, came back for four games and then was sent to the Laval Rocket. He played three games there before being shut down for the rest of the season.

So, where does that leave Juulsen heading into next season? He did enough to prove he could handle a role at the NHL level, but he hasn’t played there since Christmas and hasn’t played at all since the calendar flipped to 2019.

In an effort to replace Juulsen in the lineup, the Habs traded for Christian Folin in early February. The big, Swedish defenceman plays a similar style and role as Juulsen, and played well in 19 contests for the Canadiens last season. He was re-signed to a one-year contract with a cap hit of $800,000.

As a right shooting, physical defenceman at 6’3″ and 204 pounds, Folin fits an identical mold as Juulsen. With Weber and Petry returning to play top four minutes on the right side of the Habs blue line, the battle will be on between Folin and Juulsen to claim the third-pairing role.

Folin is 28 and signed to a one year deal before he will be an unrestricted free agent. Juulsen is 22 and heading into the final year of his entry-level contract before he will be a restricted free agent. It is clear that Juulsen is the long term solution here, but will he be the immediate answer?

Since Juulsen is so young, and missed so much time last season, playing only a handful of games after November 19th, I think it makes the most sense to give the job to Folin for now.

Both are similar players right now. There is not going to be a significant difference in the standings for the Habs if they choose Juulsen or Folin. Sending Juulsen back to the minors is all about the long-term development of the former first round pick.

Sure, he could come up and play a depth role for the Habs. However, if he goes to Laval he would be the number one defenceman who would play top pairing minutes at even strength, a huge role on the penalty kill and could even get some power play time, though Josh Brook might have something to say about that being on the top unit.

Juulsen suffered serious injuries last season when he was hit in the face with those pucks. There were vision issues and he missed months of action. It would make the most sense to let him slowly come back by taking on a role with the Rocket, and not forcing him to find his confidence on the ice in the NHL.

If he dominates at both ends of the ice, you can call him up at any time. This isn’t a decision for the entire season, it is just to start the year, but I think it makes the most sense to give the NHL roster spot to Folin over Juulsen to start the campaign.