Montreal Canadiens: Is Josh Brook Being Groomed For Opening Night Lineup?
The Montreal Canadiens first days of training camp offered very few surprises when it comes to line combinations. The biggest one has to be Josh Brook being prepped for a role with the Habs this season.
The Montreal Canadiens began training camp on Thursday and first hit the ice on Friday. With so many players returning from last season, there have not been many big surprises when monitoring the lines and defense pairings that have been put together to begin camp.
The top line of Tomas Tatar, Phillip Danault and Brendan Gallagher was wisely kept together. Jonathan Drouin, Max Domi and Artturi Lehkonen played together for stretches last season and have been put together once again for camp. Jesperi Kotkaniemi is between Paul Byron and Joel Armia, a trio that are familiar from their time together last season.
On defense, there were no surprises who the top four defenders were and who they were partnered with. Victor Mete and Shea Weber played most of the last two seasons together when they were both healthy and they have skated alongside each other again this fall. Newcomer Ben Chiarot was brought in to play a shutdown role next to Jeff Petry and is doing just that.
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The two most talked about rookies have been put in depth roles with players who could find themselves in the American Hockey League. Ryan Poehling made his NHL debut in the final game of the season, but is centering Phil Varone and Matthew Peca right now. Nick Suzuki opened plenty of eyes after being acquired from the Vegas Golden Knights and he is playing between Jordan Weal and Charles Hudon. Weal and Hudon will be fourth liners at best this season.
So, it is pretty safe to say the Canadiens management team put together players who already have chemistry and are not forcing rookies into NHL roles unless they absolutely earn it. Except perhaps, for an unexpected rookie blue liner.
Josh Brook had an excellent season for the Moose Jaw Warriors last year. He is a right-shooting defenseman and he led all Western Hockey League defenders in points with 75 in 59 games. He is an excellent skater, puck mover and most notably, he started camp partnered with Brett Kulak.
Looking into defense pairings on the first weekend of the preseason is usually reading too much into things. However, when you look at the aforementioned lines and defense pairings at the Canadiens training camp, it is obvious they are trying to put combinations in place that have a very real chance of sticking together throughout camp and into the regular season.
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That is why it is surprising to see Brook next to Kulak. Kulak is assured of a spot on the Habs blue line after a strong season and a fresh, three-year contract extension. As a rookie, it was expected Brook would fall behind Christian Folin, Noah Juulsen and maybe even Cale Fleury on the depth chart.
That has not been the case. In the Canadiens Red vs White scrimmage yesterday, Brook wasn’t timid at all and played his usual puck carrying game. His skating is certainly at the NHL level and he did not hesitate at all to jump into the rush and join the play in the attacking zone. He created a few chances for his teammates and even scored on a rebound deep in the opponent’s territory.
The Canadiens had a dependable blue line last season but were lacking in the puck-moving department. Mete and Petry were the only two defensemen who routinely jumped into the play and created odd-man chances on the attack. The Habs also sorely need some extra help on the power play and could use a true quarterback for the man advantage.
Brook definitely plays the role that is desperately needed on the Habs roster. The only question is will the 20 year old be ready for the NHL this season? He looked great at the Habs scrimmage, but that is not the best indicator of where a young defenseman is in his development.
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However, based on the fact he is playing with Kulak, and how the Canadiens have constructed the rest of their lineup for camp, it appears Brook may have the inside track on an NHL job in October. He will need a strong camp to keep that position, but just being penciled into the lineup with Kulak shows the Canadiens management team have a lot of confidence in Josh Brook and we could see him in a Habs jersey very soon.