Montreal Canadiens: Top 5 Training Camp Battles To Watch
Position: Third Pairing Right Defence
Candidates: Victor Mete, Noah Juulsen, Cale Fleury
The Incumbent: Victor Mete has been a regular on the Canadiens blue line for the past two seasons. He just re-signed a one-year deal with a small cap hit of $735,000. He has done enough to show his speed and skill is an asset in the lineup, but his small stature and inability to score points with much regularity has him prone to lose his spot.
Mete was drafted in the 4th round with the 100th overall selection in the 2016 NHL Draft. He made the team as a 19 year old and has moved up and down the lineup throughout the past three seasons. With newcomers Joel Edmundson and Alexander Romanov in town, it doesn’t look good for Mete to move into the top four anytime soon.
The 5’9″ left shot was moved to his off-side on the third pairing during the postseason to make room for Xavier Ouellet. You could look at that two ways, either Mete has the versatility to play just as well on his off side or he hasn’t cemented enough of a role in three years to keep a position on the left side.
With Ben Chiarot, Joel Edmundson and Alexander Romanov battling for ice time on the left side (more on that soon) Mete will surely be staying on the right side after his initial audition in the postseason. He definitely has the inside track on starting the season as the third right defenceman, but he will have to look good in training camp to hold off a few youngsters.
The Challenger: Cale Fleury was a third round pick in 2017. After another season of Junior and a solid rookie campaign in the AHL with the Laval Rocket, Fleury was the surprise of 2019 training camp and won a job as the third pairing right defenceman to begin the season.
He played 41 games with the Canadiens last season, shutting things down defensively with a physical style. He didn’t bring much offensively, but as a rookie third pairing defender that wasn’t expected from him. He did play a smart, steady defensive game and didn’t make mistakes, calmly moving the puck up ice and out of trouble after winning a battle along the boards.
He surprised everyone when he made the opening night lineup last season, would it really be a surprise if he did it again?
The Dark Horse: Noah Juulsen is sort of the forgotten young prospect in the Habs system. He was a first round pick back in 2015. He played a couple more seasons with the Everett Silvertips but in his first pro season, he was called up to the Canadiens for 23 games. He had three points, adding to the six points he scored in 31 games with the Laval Rocket.
He looked like a regular NHL defender already, but the past two seasons have been disastrous for the 23 year old.
Juulsen made the Canadiens out of training camp in 2018, but he was hit in the face twice with pucks in a game against the Washington Capitals in November. He missed most of the rest of that season, and was plagued by migraines throughout the past season as well. He did get back into the Rocket lineup in March, just before the league shutdown and eventually cancelled the rest of its season.
Healthy now for nine months, can Juulsen make the team out of camp again like he did in 2018?