The Montreal Canadiens began training camp over a week go and with so many players with NHL experience on the roster, it wouldn’t have been difficult to guess at least 20 of the 23 players that will make up their opening night roster.
We have seen them play just two of their six preseason games so far, but nothing has really shifted this line of thinking from day one of camp. We haven’t seen anyone unexpectedly steal the spotlight and look like they are ready to suddenly steal a top nine forward spot away from a veteran.
We also haven’t seen a veteran struggle to the point it looks like they may surprisingly find themselves on waivers and lose their job to a rookie.
Some things are pretty much set in stone already. Carey Price and Jake Allen will be the team’s two goaltenders and Nick Suzuki, Tyler Toffoli, Cole Caufield, Jonathan Drouin, Christian Dvorak, Josh Anderson, Brendan Gallagher, Jake Evans and Joel Armia will be the team’s top nine forwards. This is pretty much what we would have guessed from day one, especially once we found out Mike Hoffman was going to miss the beginning of the season.
So much for a drama filled training camp.
There are a couple of battles to keep an eye on in the coming days as the players skate in their final four exhibition contests. There are no first line roles up for grabs, and we know what the goaltending tandem will be at the NHL level, but there are a few things to watch for in the coming days.
Let’s take a look at the three biggest battles going on in camp and what we should be keeping a close eye on over the final four exhibition games before the 2021-22 season begins on October 13th.