Montreal Canadiens: 4 Laval Rocket Players to Keep an Eye On

Montreal Canadiens fans are focused on the NHL season, but should keep an eye on these four AHL players too

With the final cuts from this brief training camp having been made, the Canadiens roster for opening night has been confirmed, but so has the Laval Rocket’s to a lesser extent. It remains to be seen which exact players will head to the taxi squad and which will be sent to Laval, but educated guesses can be made. The players that clearly hold the label of “prospect” will find themselves in Laval since they need to play games in order to further their development, which leaves the more veteran players that have cleared waivers as the candidates for the taxi squad.

The taxi squad can hold as many as 6 players and must include one goaltender. That goaltender will likely be one of Michael McNiven and Charlie Lindgren, but Vasili Demchenko has a shot as well, though he did not feature in either intra-squad scrimmage, which likely points to the unlikelihood of that outcome. In terms of forwards, Marc Bergevin would love to have the trio of Jordan Weal, Michael Frolik and Corey Perry on the taxi squad but the latter two have yet to clear waivers at the time of writing, and if one (or both) of them are claimed, Laval’s forward lineup will take a hit and become more reliant on the younger players.

On defence, Laval captain Xavier Ouellet seems like a near-guarantee to feature on the taxi squad. The sixth and final spot could be occupied by Gustav Olofsson or possibly Otto Leskinen, or be left vacant, which would allow Marc Bergevin to perform some salary cap gymnastics by sending a waiver ineligible player like Nick Suzuki, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Alexander Romanov or Jake Evans to the taxi squad between game days to save a few dozen thousand dollars in cap space per day and eventually be able to carry a roster of 22 players rather than the 21 currently with the big club (Victor Mete will be the only healthy scratch in Toronto on January 13th).

This taxi squad situation means that multiple players that would have played a veteran role in Laval under non-pandemic circumstances will not be with the Canadiens’ minor league affiliate. This means that younger prospects will be primed for leadership roles and will be more heavily relied upon to produce offence and play shutdown minutes on defence. Due to this, I would like to highlight four players that should be key to Laval’s success or failure this season (or just really fun to watch) but who may not be getting the most attention from the fanbase at the moment. Therefore, I will not include Cale Fleury, Cayden Primeau, Jesse Ylonen or Ryan Poehling in this article. Keep in mind, this list is in no particular order, simply a collection of fun players that could become big contributors.

Cam Hillis

Throughout the 2019-20 season, Canadiens fans and analysts were debating which player among recent draft picks Cole Fonstad, Samuel Houde, Allan McShane and Cam Hillis would receive an entry-level contract or if two of the four would get one. McShane seemed to have all the tools but just couldn’t put them together or progress at the Junior level, Fonstad had a similar issue, in that his production plateaued following his draft -1 season, Houde wasn’t even in the picture until the beginning of last season when he exploded out of the gate with Chicoutimi, but cooled down after 25 games.

Then there was Hillis; the player drafted the highest of this group (66th overall in 2018) and the player who was injured for most of the season that saw Nick Suzuki lead his Guelph Storm to an OHL championship and a Memorial Cup appearance, producing just 10 goals and 22 points in 33 regular-season games along with 0 points in just 2 playoff games. Despite the injuries and the mediocre production, Guelph gave Hillis the “C” for the 2019-20 season as well as the slot vacated by Nick Suzuki at the centre of the top line; and Hillis did not disappoint.

The 5’11”, 168 lbs centreman racked up 24 goals and 83 points in 62 games. While no player on the Guelph roster was going to replace the 1.72 points/game Suzuki put up as a member of the Storm (a 106 point pace through 62 games), Hillis showed his worth as a playmaker; his 59 assists ranked 7th in the OHL. The faceoff specialist has a good set of hands, but it is his two-way ability and playmaking that define his game. In the end, Hillis was the only player of the group to be signed.

He should slot into the middle-six in Laval this season and will more than likely play centre. Hillis only turns 21 in June, so even if he starts the season with smaller minutes, count on Joel Bouchard to allow Hillis to carve out a larger role himself as the season progresses. The Oshawa native holds a skillset that could lend itself to a third-line centre spot in the NHL once he reaches his peak. It will be interesting to see how Hillis’ playmaking, two-way play and faceoff ability translate to the pro game and how much responsibility he will be given.

Arsen Khisamutdinov

Arsen Khisamutdinov was a really obscure selection by Marc Bergevin at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, and he has remained an obscure player to North American Habs fans, but that is set to change, as he received an ELC this spring and will debut with the Laval Rocket this offseason. He was so obscure, in fact, that our image database is void of any pictures of the player, though a handful can be found on Google Images.

The 6’3″, 203 lbs left-winger is unlikely to play a huge role on the Rocket this season (he didn’t even make the cut for the Canadiens’ training camp) but I have the sense that he is going to be really fun to watch. Khisamutdinov averaged 10:50 in 41 career KHL games, scoring 3 goals and 8 points. He also played 14 VHL games last season, which is the KHL’s equivalent to the AHL, and he put up 9 goals and 13 total points, so he knows how to score.

The big Russian winger is already 22 years old, having been selected in his final year of draft eligibility, so he is more cut out for the pro game than many younger and smaller players, but he is unlikely to play in Laval’s top-six this season, with Poehling, Laurent Dauphin, Cam Hillis, Lukas Vejdemo, Jesse Ylonen, Alex Belzile, Joel Teasdale and Joseph Blandisi almost certainly ahead of him on the depth chart and a near handful of other players that likely start ahead of him.

However, injuries occur in the NHL and the AHL, so he might get a shot higher up in the lineup; whether this does or doesn’t occur, Khisamutdinov will add size and scoring touch to the Rocket and, as I stated previously, should be really fun to watch.

Josh Brook

If Teasdale’s final year of Junior was great, Brook’s was phenomenal. In 59 games, the offensive right shot defenceman notched 16 goals and 75 points, averaging exactly 1 assist per game. Expectations were high for his debut professional season and there was even hope that he would beat out Christian Folin and Cale Fleury for the right spot on the Canadiens’ third pairing, but alas, he did not and was sent to Laval. At this point, Brook was a staple in the top-6 of most Canadiens prospect rankings. Unfortunately, Brook struggled to adapt to the professional game despite the mentorship of Karl Alzner, which has seen him fall out of most top-10 lists this season.

It should be noted though, that Brook improved significantly throughout the season, becoming increasingly comfortable on the puck; the end to end rushes that were a staple of his game in Moose Jaw in the WHL began occurring too. Brook still has a lot of refining to do on the defensive side of the puck, but he should be a whole lot of fun to watch this season; those end to end rushes really are exhilarating. Brook put up 4 goals and 13 points in 60 AHL games last season, but could surpass that total in half the games this season.

The 6’1″, 192 lbs defenceman will slot into the second pairing in Laval and will be given every opportunity to succeed by Joel Bouchard, including power-play duties. Cale Fleury will also be given the heavy defensive minutes, which could free Brook up to play his dynamic offensive style against lesser competition while he still hones his defensive skills. With the loss of Noah Juulsen through waivers to Florida, Brook has been automatically bumped up a spot on the depth chart, now slotting in as the organization’s fourth-best right-shot defenceman, behind Petry, Weber and Fleury, though Mete and Romanov who can both play on the right side are ahead of the latter two right-shots.

All this being said, no matter where in the Laval lineup Brook plays this season, he will have an impact and be fun to watch, as he is one of the handful of players in that roster that can take the fate of a game into his own hands and make the spectacular decisive play.

All statistics sourced from EliteProspects.com.