It’s a sweet surprise to see a player rise within an organization out of nowhere, and the Montreal Canadiens may have a player like that in Joel Teasdale.
Victor Mete wasn’t a lock to make the Montreal Canadiens out of camp. The 2016 fourth-round pick landed on the coaching staff’s radar at the team’s 2017 development camp in the summer while the Rookie Tournament the following September confirmed hopes. Claude Julien gave Mete a chance to play, and it worked out so much that he made the team on the top pair with Shea Weber.
The hype and excitement that came with that season were exponential. Why? Because the Montreal Canadiens had a player who wasn’t on the radar, push their way ahead and make it.
That’s what a dark horse so interesting. Mete wasn’t necessarily a top prospect in the organization, and as a fourth-round pick, there isn’t much that would put him in the ‘guaranteed NHL player’ category. Even though Mete had a good season with the London Knights after his draft, the Habs could’ve easily sent the defenceman back to junior. Instead, they gave him the opportunity to rise from the realm of the unknown and succeed with an NHL spot.
The Montreal Canadiens have another dark horse in waiting, a prospect who isn’t talked about as much.
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Joël Teasdale is going to be a player to watch. The Habs attended development camp in 2018 and earned an entry-level deal after an impressive training camp. Teasdale had an incredible 2018-19 season splitting time between the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada and Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, putting up a total of 43 goals and 37 assists in 63 games.
He continued his production in the playoffs helping the Huskies capturing the QMJHL Championship and leading all players in points with 34 in 20 games. The Memorial Cup brought on the same kind of success as the Huskies won with Teasdale winning the Stafford Smythe Trophy awarded to the MVP of the tournament.
The 2019 Montreal Canadiens training camp was the icing on the cake until a knee-injury significantly derailed his season. A skating drill saw his ACL torn, and his MCL severely damaged. To this day, Teasdale has not played a game as the initial diagnosis was seven months, and as a result, he hasn’t been talked about much.
The only news that’s come out about Teasdale was the fact that he took a skate mid-February.
If there is any prospect who can have the same ‘surprise’ factor as Mete initially, it will be Teasdale. His play compliments a lot of the star players on the current Montreal Canadiens, and his forecheck is something Claude Julien will quickly gravitate to if he hasn’t already.
He effectively combines speed with grit and skill, which allows him to be a difference-maker in several capacities. Versatility like that is something NHL coaches thrive for. He could be a good compliment to someone like Nick Suzuki or Jesperi Kotkaniemi or can work just as hard in a heavy role lining up with Gallagher or Philip Danault.
It is easy, and in some ways, the smart decision to throw Teasdale to the Laval Rocket. He was with the team the whole season despite his injury and has experience with Rocket head coach Joël Bouchard dating back to his days with the Armada. But there is something special in this player, and the fact that his first professional season was taken from him could ignite an already scorching flame.