Montreal Canadiens: Three Players Cut From Training Camp Roster

The Montreal Canadiens are well into their first week of training camp in preparation for the 2021-22 season.

They began on Wednesday, September 15th with a roster that included 70 players. Forty forwards, 23 defenders and seven goaltenders were officially at camp although injuries reduced that number by a couple.

The first official cuts were made today, after the team’s Red vs White scrimmage at the Bell Centre.

Joshua Roy, Xavier Simoneau and Joe Vrbetic have all been released from Canadiens training camp and will return to their respective Junior teams. None of the three players were on the roster last night when the Canadiens played their first preseason game, which was a 4-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Roy is a skilled forward and looked good playing in the team’s scrimmage earlier today. He has a ton of skill, but his work ethic led to him dropping to the Canadiens in the 5th round of the 2021 NHL Draft.

Roy scored 35 points in 35 QMJHL games and will return there now to begin the season with the Sherbrooke Phoenix next weekend. He is just 18 years old so he likely plays two more seasons in the QMJHL, but he should put up some dominant offensive numbers this season.

Xavier Simoneau is also headed back to the QMJHL, and he has also been putting up big numbers at that level. He is already 20 years old though he was just drafted by the Canadiens in the 6th round of the 2021 NHL Draft.

The forward scored 37 points in 27 games last season and has been over a point per game for each fo the past three seasons. He was traded from the Drummondville Voltigeurs to the Charlottetown Islanders over the offseason and will look to bring his usual offensive performance to the Islanders when the regular season begins next weekend.

Vrbetic is a big goaltender who is headed to the Ontario Hockey League this season. The 18 year old netminder was taken in the 7th round of the 2021 NHL Draft. At 6’6″ his size is what jumps out at you, especially since he didn’t play at all last season due to the OHL shutting down for the year.

It will be interesting to see how Vrbetic performs with the North Bay Battalion this season. That year of not playing hockey at all as a 17 year old could have a negative effect on his development. He will get a chance to show off his talent starting on October 7 when the OHL season gets underway.