Montreal Canadiens: Why The Plethora of Veteran Forwards Is A Great Thing

The Montreal Canadiens invited 74 players to training camp this season, which is quite a lengthy list when you consider they have about three weeks to get that number down to 23.

The Canadiens brass have a total of eight preseason games to analyze their list of players, so there are plenty of chances to get a look at everyone in camp. It likely won’t be long before we see a large number of players sent back to their Junior teams, plus when the Laval Rocket camp gets closer to opening, a couple dozen hopefuls will be shuttled down the road.

Even with so many players in camp, there really aren’t a lot of jobs up for grabs, especially up front. The Habs have a lot of forwards that are returning NHLers under contract, which means they are pretty much guaranteed a spot.

Canadiens lack of opportunity for young forwards not a bad thing

The fact that there are not a lot of jobs open up front is not necessarily a bad thing. Of course, if a teenager absolutely dominates in training camp, you would want him to get the chance to show what he can do in the regular season.

However, the Canadiens may have been guilty of rushing players to the NHL too quickly lately. Jesperi Kotkaniemi made the team as an 18 year old and played the whole season even though he could rarely go an entire shift without being knocked over.

Ryan Poehling played almost as many NHL games as AHL games in his first pro season but it was clear early on he would have been better off playing bigger minutes at the AHL level instead of toiling as a fourth line NHL winger.

It is rare anyone looks back at a player’s career and thinks he was ruined because he played too long in the minors before getting an NHL shot. Rushing a young player to the NHL can ruin their confidence and make them a much more hesitant player.

Even if they wanted to, this year’s version of the Canadiens may not have room to add a young forward to the NHL roster on opening night.

Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Josh Anderson, Christian Dvorak, Jonathan Drouin, Brendan Gallagher, Kirby Dach, Rem Pitlick, Evgeni Dadonov, Joel Armia, Jake Evans, Mike Hoffman, Sean Monahan, Paul Byron and Michael Pezzetta give the Canadiens 15 forwards who were NHL regulars last season and are on one-way contracts this season.

That is too many to begin with, which is probably bad news for Pezzetta. Then you have the youngsters who are looking to crack the lineup as rookies. It is going to be extremely difficult for a rookie to knock Hoffman, Armia or Byron off the bottom end of the roster.

What this means is, even if he looks good, Juraj Slafkovksy could start the season in the AHL with the Rocket. That would not be the end of the world as he could use a little time to fine-tune his game, like any 18 year old.

Owen Beck is having a tremendous camp, and in other years he might actually get a look at the NHL level. But there just isn’t room without putting someone like Hoffman on waivers or trading Armia for nothing. That doesn’t make sense when Beck, an 18 year old second round pick, could just go back to the OHL where he could be a go-to player for Mississauga.

Filip Mesar is another young player that has shown off some skill at this camp. In previous years, he might get a look early in the NHL season, but he will be better served going to the OHL, or even the AHL, instead of trying to hold his own with the Canadiens early in the season.

Some of these contracts, especially the ones belonging to Hoffman, Armia and Byron are a bit high. But keeping those overpaid veterans and sending the teenagers back to a league they can find immediate success will be the best thing for the long term of the Canadiens.

The 2022-23 Canadiens are not expected to compete anyway, so why rush an 18 year old when he would be better off playing huge minutes in Junior, or even the AHL where the spotlight isn’t as bright? Thanks to a handful of not so great contracts, the Habs won’t be able to make that short-sighted decision, even if they want to.

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