Training camp is in a little over 2 weeks, and the Montreal Canadiens have many players they can bring, especially with an unlimited number of goaltenders.
Similar to the 2012-13 season, the 2020-21 season (can we still call it that?) won’t have a preseason. That’s going to make training camp all the more important as players will use that to try to get themselves into gear ahead of an unorthodox campaign. And it’s going to be even more crucial for teams with a decent amount of guaranteed spots on the roster; take the Montreal Canadiens, for example.
But even though spots are guaranteed, player positioning is still up in the air. Take Phillip Danault, who wasn’t pleased to see his number one centre role taken from him in favour of a growing Nick Suzuki. You could also look at 2018 second-round pick Alexander Romanov who will likely start on the bottom pair but surely doesn’t plan on staying there.
Training camp is going to answer questions and possibly create new ones. Though, who is going to be at training camp anyway?
According to Elliotte Friedman, teams are allowed to have 36 skates and an unlimited number of goalies. With taxi squads being a thing this season, training camp will be as impactful as ever. Not only are you deciding on players to be on the main roster, but also those who should be able to jump right onto the team in case of injury.
Let’s start with the:
Goaltenders:
- Carey Price
- Jake Allen
- Vasili Demchenko
- Cayden Primeau
- Charlie Lindgren
- Michael McNiven
The Montreal Canadiens have 6 goaltenders under contract, and I don’t see a reason why all of them wouldn’t be there. Not only will it get them ready for the NHL season, but also the AHL season, which is targeting a February 5th start.
Price and Allen are the guardians of the Habs crease all season. However, there is going to be competition for that 3rd spot. Considering he was signed out of the KHL, I could see Demchenko be the one to get the nod while Primeau, Lindgren and McNiven handle things for the Laval Rocket.
Defencemen:
- Shea Weber
- Jeff Petry
- Ben Chiarot
- Joel Edmundson
- Brett Kulak
- Victor Mete
- Alexander Romanov
- Otto Leskinen
- Josh Brook
- Cale Fleury
- Gustav Olofson
- Xavier Ouellet
- Noah Juulsen
Similar to the goaltenders, it makes sense to take all contracted defencemen to training camp. Four of the thirteen defencemen are guaranteed a spot on the blueline, while the bottom pair and the taxi squad are up for debate. Training camp will answer a lot of those questions, and with Romanov there, it should be an interesting battle.
Forwards
- Jesperi Kotkaniemi
- Nick Suzuki
- Jonathan Drouin
- Josh Anderson
- Tomas Tatar
- Brendan Gallagher
- Tyler Toffoli
- Phillip Danault
- Joel Armia
- Artturi Lehkonen
- Paul Byron
- Jordan Weal
- Ryan Poehling
- Alex Belzile
- Jake Evans
- Lukas Vejdemo
- Jesse Ylonen/Joel Teasdale
It’s in the forward group where some subtractions come up. While looking at the players already on the Montreal Canadiens, there were only 4 spots out of the remaining 17. It’s a toss-up between Ylonen and Teasdale for me. Neither have professional experience in North America, but both were preparing for it with other factors getting in the way. And the pause of professional sports in hockey back in March didn’t help at all.
Either it’s the taxi squad or the AHL for a number of those extras, and that’s where we’ll see a lot of those internal competitions. Ryan Poehling may be closer than others to earn a spot, but he has a lot to prove after him being unfit to play games with the Montreal Canadiens in the bubble. And if that’s not a good enough call to urgency, Poehling is entering the last year of his entry-level deal.
Those training camp rosters will likely be announced after Christmas, so there’s still time to take the prediction hat out. However, there’s something about this year that screams intense camp right off the bat.