Montreal Canadiens: Can a Rookie Steal a Spot on the Habs Blue Line?

The Montreal Canadiens have five of their six defenseman slots are already set. Jeff Petry, David Savard, Alexander Romanov, Ben Chiarot, and Joel Edmundson all figure to play big roles for the team this coming season.

There is an opening for the sixth spot however, and no shortage of players gunning to fill that role.

During the Canadiens playoff run last year, that role was filled by some combination of Erik Gustafsson, Jon Merrill, and Brett Kulak. With Merrill and Gustafsson gone, Kulak now has the inside track as a returning veteran.

Nipping at Kulak’s heels however, is a fleet of young prospects looking to make the jump. Kaiden Guhle has an outside chance, but is almost certainly at least a year away. Jordan Harris would be a good candidate to make the jump, but he is returning to the NCAA this year. With these two out of the running (for now), it leave Mattias Norlinder and Josh Brook as the main competition for that final spot on the Canadiens blue line.

Josh Brook was originally drafted in the second round of the 2017 draft. Standing just over 6 feet tall and weighing in at around 190 pounds, Brook is the bigger of the two young defenders. Among the 5 “locks”, only Alexander Romanov is less than 6’2″. So in this case size clearly matters.

But its not just his measurables that give Brook a leg up on Norlinder. Brook also has the rare trait of being a right-shot defender. Having a right shot on all 3 pairings would certainly be something Bergevin and Ducharme take in to account when making decisions on the final roster.

Brook also has the big advante of being used to the North American game. Whereas Norlinder has been overseas playing in Sweden, Brook has already accumulated 100 games at the AHL level.

This does not mean Brook will just run away with the competition.

Norlinder, a 3rd round pick in 2019, has some experience advantages of his own. While he is not used to the North American game, he is used to playing important minutes for SHL powerhouse Frolunda. Frolunda has won the championship twice in the past 5 years, so getting minutes on that team is no easy feat.

And unlike the AHL, Norlinder is not playing against many youngsters in Sweden. The SHL is largely a “men’s league”, meaning that Norlinder is often playing against guys with much more experience than himself. In spite of these challenges, Norlinder still has a highlight reel for the ages, and would bring a skillset that perfectly complements Montreal’s big bruising lineup.

Each young defender brings a unique and intriguing skillset to the Canadiens, and it may be too close to call. If I had to pick a favorite to take playing time away from Brett Kulak, I’ll give the slight edge to Josh Brook.