Montreal Canadiens: Three Prospects Entering “Prove-It” Seasons
The Montreal Canadiens are a team entering a rebuild, but also with a lot of veterans on the roster. That is especially true up front.
With training camp approaching, the rebuilding Habs actually added a few more veteran forwards in the offseason, and didn’t really lose any. They did allow Mathieu Perreault to walk and he eventually retired, and depth veteran Tyler Pitlick left as a free agent.
But neither of those players played big roles for the Canadiens last season anyway. It left the Habs with a lot of forwards coming back that have significant NHL experience. Plus, they actually went out and added a pair of veteran forwards to their roster.
Evgeni Dadonov was acquired as part of the Shea Weber trade with the Vegas Golden Knights. It was a trade that gave the Golden Knights short term cap flexibility and allowed the Canadiens to avoid the long term injured reserve dance with Weber for the next four seasons.
The Habs also added Sean Monahan. He fell out of favour after significant injuries with the Calgary Flames, and was acquired along with a future first round pick in a deal that saved the Flames nearly $6.5 million in cap space for the upcoming season.
So, the youth movement isn’t really on in full force just yet. It is coming on the back end, but it will take some time to develop up front. We are likely seeing the final season in Montreal for Paul Byron, Jonathan Drouin as well as Monahan and Dadonov who appear destined for one-and-done status in Montreal.
If those forwards are shipped out, it will open the door for several younger players around the trade deadline. So, there will be opportunity for youngsters to prove themselves up front (eventually) and on the back end (immediately).
The Canadiens have drafted well lately and have an impressive group of teenaged prospects on the horizon. That means there are a few players in their early-20’s right now who are going to need to make the most of their opportunities in 2022-23 or else they could fall off the prospect radar altogether.
Who needs to prove themselves this season? Let’s take a look at three prospects who could drop drastically on the team’s depth chart with a poor showing this season.