Montreal Canadiens: Is it Time To Send Cale Fleury To The Laval Rocket?

The Montreal Canadiens kept Cale Fleury on their opening night roster because of his great play during training camp. He has been healthy scratched for three straight games, is it time to send him down?

The Montreal Canadiens had a pleasant surprise during training camp when 20 year old right defenseman Cale Fleury played so well he earned a roster spot. Fleury was not expected to make the Canadiens roster on opening night, but there he was, making his NHL debut when the Habs faced the Carolina Hurricanes.

By all accounts, Fleury played well on the third pairing with Brett Kulak in that game. He got 17 shifts, was on the ice for 14:52, didn’t make any big mistakes and took care of business in his own zone. He didn’t receive any special teams ice time, but he played in a regular rotation while at even strength..

It was a bit of a different story in Fleury’s second game. He struggled with the speed and skill of the Toronto Maple Leafs forwards, and was victimized by Kasperi Kapanen, one of the fastest players in the league, in the first period which led to a Maple Leafs goal.

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Fleury would only play 14 shifts and had 10:28 of ice time against the Maple Leafs. Since then, he was a healthy scratch so Christian Folin could play the last three games. That means that Fleury has been on the ice for a grand total of 25:20 after five Habs games.

If Fleury is just going to continue to sit in the press box and watch the Habs play games, he should be sent to the Laval Rocket right now. What is the point of keeping a 20 year old with one year of pro experience hanging around and not playing at all?

There is something to be gained by hanging around with veterans like Shea Weber and Jeff Petry every day, but if Fleury isn’t actually playing games, what exactly is Weber going to tell him to work on? How can he improve his game when he isn’t working on it?

I would have no problem keeping a player like Fleury and letting him play between 10-15 minutes per night on the third pairing. Same thing goes for Ryan Poehling or even Nick Suzuki. The Canadiens roll all four lines and young forwards, even those on the fourth line are going to regularly play ten minutes at even strength. Suzuki also gets power play time, Poehling would get penalty killing minutes so they would get 12 minutes per night.

Playing somewhere between 10-15 minutes per night in the NHL is a far better teacher than playing in all situations in the American Hockey League. However, if Fleury were in the AHL, he would be playing 20 minutes of minor league hockey vs not playing any hockey at all.

I’d take the “actually getting to play hockey games” as the better option for any kid’s development. Now, if it were up to me, I’d just put Fleury back in the Habs lineup over Folin. The 28 year old Swedish defender that took Fleury’s spot hasn’t exactly dominated. He played 12:50 against the Buffalo Sabres and 15:14 versus the Detroit Red Wings.

I think it is worth putting Fleury back in the lineup as he has the potential to be a much better defenseman than Folin. Sure, young players will have tough nights and sometimes make mistakes in their own zone. But to react to that by sitting a 20 year old in the press box for three straight games makes no sense. How is he learning when he is a couple hundred feet away from the action?

Either put Fleury back in the lineup in the next game, or send him down to the Laval Rocket so he can play Monday afternoon. He has sat on the sidelines long enough and needs to get back on the ice as soon as possible, whether it is in the NHL or AHL.