The Montreal Canadiens offseason is really just beginning it seems. Today is the opening of free agency, and though we don’t expect the Canadiens to be very busy in that market, most of the hockey world will be focusing on who signs where this afternoon.
Not everyone though. The Canadiens will be opening their annual development camp today. There are 37 players in attendance and fans will have a chance to get their first glimpse at recent draft picks like David Reinbacher and Jacob Fowler.
There will be a total of 19 forwards, 13 defensemen and five goaltenders in the camp. Players will not hit the ice today, but will take part in various skills sessions on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday as well as a scrimmage to wrap things up on Tuesday afternoon.
The full list of players taking part in this year’s development camp are:
Forwards: Owen Beck, Blake Biondi, Jared Davidson, Isaac Dufort, Filip Eriksson, Cedrick Guindon, Riley Kidney, Riley McKay, Filip Mesar, Rhett Pitlick, Vinzenz Rohrer, Joshua Roy, Gabriel Seger, Xavier Simoneau, Ty Smilanic, Jack Smith, Luke Tuch, Wiliam Vote, Florian Xhekaj.
Defensemen: Jeremie Bucheler, Francesco Dell’Elce, Adam Engstrom, Lane Hutson, Logan Mailloux, Luke Mittelstadt, Petteri Nurmi, John Parker-Jones, David Reinbacher, Jayden Struble, Miguel Tourigny, Charlie Truchon, William Trudeau.
Goaltenders: Emmett Croteau, Jakub Dobes, Jacob Fowler, Quentin Miller, Samuel Urban.
The camp will be held at Bell Sports Complex in Brossard and the staff running it includes Adam Nicholas, Scott Pellerin, Francis Bouillon and Marie-Philip Poulin. The Laval Rocket coaching staff led by J.F. Houle will also be on the ice with the players.
The development camp is unique in that college players are allowed to attend since it is not during the normal college schedule. It is the only time all year we get to see players like Dobes, Biondi, Pitlick and Mittelstadt wearing a Canadiens uniform.
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