Montreal Canadiens: Burning Questions Heading Into Habs Training Camp

The Montreal Canadiens training camp is underway as the hopefuls are gathered in Brossard this week and will hit the ice as a group for the first time today.

There are 74 players on the training camp roster, including Paul Byron, Logan Mailloux and Carey Price who are already on the injured list. That leaves 71 players that will hit the ice with hopes of making the opening night roster, or at least showing they can be counted on in the near future.

A quick subtraction will tell you that with 71 players in camp, and only 23 eligible to make the initial roster, there are 48 players in attendance today that won’t be on the roster when the regular season begins on October 12th.

That gives the management team and coaching staff just under three weeks to make a lot of decisions. Some will be easy, like the late draft picks from the 2022 NHL Draft eventually being sent back to their Junior teams.

But, even though the team finished 32nd in the NHL standings last season, and don’t anticipate being a whole lot better this season, there are going to be a lot of tough choices to be made. Putting this roster together is not going to be easy.

There is an interesting mix of experienced players looking to extend their careers, as well as promising prospects that are looking to cement a role at the NHL level. Decisions will have to be made to select this team.

And a new head coach will be looking to make his mark over a full season. The team isn’t likely to contend, but don’t expect them to tank for last place either. There will be an effort to be competitive early on and the team won’t want to play months of hockey knowing their fate like they did last season.

It should all make for a fairly interesting training camp this season. Many questions need to be answered before the regular season begins. Let’s take a look at the three burning questions that need to be answered in the Canadiens training camp.