Montreal Canadiens: Predicting Where All 37 Development Camp Players Play Next Season

The Montreal Canadiens made nine selections at the 2023 NHL Draft and then quickly pivoted to their annual development camp.

There were 37 players invited to their camp and they all assembled in Brossard at the Bell Sports Complex on July 1st. The players took part in off-ice medical assessments and testing on the first day of camp and then hit the ice for the final three days.

They skated in three separate groups on Sunday and Monday, with the five goaltenders, 13 defensemen and 19 forwards all taking the ice at different times for on-ice skills development and training. The camp was run mostly by the AHL’s Laval Rocket coaching staff headed by J.F. Houle.

The development camp ended yesterday with the players split into two separate groups for a team scrimmage. They played two 25 minute periods of four on four hockey which led to some incredible display of skill and skating among the participants.

Considering it was development camp, these players are a few years away at least, from being regulars at the NHL level. These are the youngest prospects in the system so we can’t really expect any of these players to steal a roster spot during training camp and make the opening night roster. A few of them, like Xavier Simoneau and Logan Mailloux could shine at training camp, but even then a little more time in the leagues below the NHL would benefit all of these players.

Which really begs the question, where are all 37 of these players going to end up next season? We are talking about nearly two full rosters worth of players that will all be below the NHL level. So, where are these players going to play in 2023-24?

Let’s take a look and see where all of the players at Canadiens development camp are going to end up when the puck drops next season.

Trois-Rivieres Lions

Riley McKay split time between the AHL and ECHL last season, but with an influx of young wingers joining the Laval Rocket in 2023-24, it will push a veteran like McKay down to the ECHL’s Trois-Rivieres Lions to start next season. He scored eight goals and ten points in 25 ECHL games last season and adds some physicality to the wing, as proven by his 118 penalty minutes in just 23 AHL games.

Jeremie Bucheler is not even signed to a professional contract, and was at development camp on a tryout basis. However, it would make a lot of sense for him to start his pro career next season with the Trois-Rivieres Lions. He played the past four years at Northeastern with the Huskies in the NCAA. That means he patrolled the blue line for years with Jordan Harris and Jayden Struble so he is familiar with a couple of players in the organization. He also played on the same team as Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes two sons, Jack and Riley, and another teammate of his was Ryan St. Louis who happens to be the son of Martin St. Louis.

So, there are a lot of connections to the organziation already, not to mention the fact he is from Saint-Laurent which is a borough of the city of Montreal. The 6’4″ and 216 pound right shot defender scored ten points in 32 games last season. He could add some depth to the Lions defense as a 23 year old.

John Parker-Jones is another player who split time between the AHL and ECHL and is likely to play a similar role in the organization this season. He scored 11 points in 17 ECHL games and also had three points in 20 AHL games. He adds plenty of size at 6’7″ and 228 pounds and has split time at both defense and right wing. His versatility comes in handy when the inevitable injury bug bites the organization.

College Hockey

Blake Biondi had had his ups and downs at the NCAA level and will look to finish off on a strong note as a senior next season. He scored five points in 26 games in his first season and then put up 28 points in 42 games in year two. Last season saw him score just six points in 17 games and he will now go back to an always competitive Minnesota-Duluth team.

Rhett Pitlick has played two seasons with the University of Minnesota and will head back for his Junior season in 2023-24. He was a 5th round pick of the Canadiens back in 2019 but he played two years of USHL hockey before starting his college career and he put up 25 points in 40 games last season. He will head back for his Junior campaign and play a big role for a great team.

Gabriel Seger was invited to the Canadiens development camp after finishing his college career with Clarkson. He scored 30 points in 30 NCAA games last season and brings plenty of size at 6’4″ and 217 pounds but he appears to be heading back to Cornell next season to finish off his college career.

Ty Smilanic was acquired as part of the Ben Chiarot trade and struggled last season with Wisconsin. He scored just two points in 14 games and took some time off from the game of hockey as well. He played his first two college seasons with Quinnipiac and will now play his Senior season looking to bounce back with Wisconsin.

Jack Smith was heralded as a long term project when he was drafted out of high school in 2020. He played two USHL seasons after that and finally made his college debut last season scoring five points in 24 games for University of Minnesota-Duluth. That’s a stacked team and he will head back now as a second year player looking to earn a bigger role.

Luke Tuch has already played three seasons with Boston University but it appears he will head back for his senior season. The big left winger was a second round pick in 2020 and scored 20 points in 40 games last season while being a bit of a menace on the forecheck. When a player heads back for their fourth college season, they have the chance to become a free agent the following August so we will see if the Canadiens can get him signed when Boston University’s season ends.

Will Vote was invited to development camp as a surprising undrafted player. He is heading to Boston College next season where he should join a stacked, young, offensive team that will be tough to find power play time. The 5’7″ winger scored 45 points in 61 games for the U.S. Development Team and he will start his college career next season but re-enters the NHL Draft in 2024.

Lane Hutson was one of the best players in college hockey last season and he will head back to Boston University as one of the favorites to win the Hobey Baker Award next season. Look for him to dominate and then sign with the Canadiens to end the season after his college campaign closes.

Luke Mittelstadt was a late pick of the Canadiens in the 2023 after being passed over in previous drafts. He scored 21 points in 38 games as a freshman defenseman for University of Minnesota and the 20 year old will head back there for his sophomore season.

Emmett Croteau is coming off a solid season in the USHL where he had a 2.46 GAA and a .917 SV% in 28 games. The Habs 6th round pick in 2022 is heading to Clarkson University where he will battle with veteran Austin Roden for playing time.

Jacob Fowler is a promising young goaltender that was drafted in the third round of last week’s NHL Draft. He is also coming off a stellar USHL season and will be heading to Boston College where he is the favorite to become the number one goalie right away.

Canadian Junior Hockey

Owen Beck will be an interesting player to watch at the Canadiens main training camp. He was one of the best players in last year’s training camp and looked great in exhibition games. He will be just 19 years old at the upcoming training camp and can only play in the NHL or go back to the OHL. With so many centers already on the NHL roster, the best place for Beck is to continue developing in Junior.

Isaac Dufort is an interesting invite to this development camp and he could become the next Simoneau/Davidson. Dufort will go back to the QMJHL where he plays for the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. Don’t be surprised to see the Laval native sign an AHL-only contract for the 2023-24 season.

Cedrick Guindon scored 22 goals and 69 points in 68 games for the Owen Sound Attack last season. The 19 year old will head back there and look to take another step in the right direction and earn an entry-level contract following the season.

Florian Xhekaj was drafted by the Canadiens in the fourth round and he will head back to his hometown Hamilton Bulldogs where he will look to continue following in his older brother Arber’s footsteps.

Francesco Dell-Elce was passed over in the 2023 NHL Draft and can not sign with anyone unless he is passed over again in next year’s draft. He played prep school hockey last season and is heading to the BCHL to play for the Penticton Vees next season.

Charle Truchon just had a successful QMJHL season, winning a championship with the Quebec Remparts as well as a Memorial Cup title. He scored 30 points in 68 games last season and has been traded to the Rimouski Oceanic where he will serve as one of their overagers next season.

Quentin Miller is another player off the Remparts title winning team last season and he will stick around next season. The 18 year old goaltender was a fourth round pick of the Canadiens after posting strong numbers as a backup on a great team. He will be playing behind a much different looking Remparts team that is now rebuilding in 2023-24.

Europe

Filip Eriksson split last season between Vaxjo’s Junior and pro team in Sweden. After being drafted by the Canadiens in the sixth round, he will stay in Sweden once again in 2023-24 and will once again split time between Vaxjo’s Under-20 program as well as their senior team.

Vinzenz Rohrer played last season in the OHL but has decided to head back overseas next season. The 19 year old played most of his hockey in Switzerland growing up and will return there next season with the Zurich Lions.

Adam Engstrom played last season in Sweden with Rogle where he split time between the Junior and pro teams. He did play most of the season in SHL which is Sweden’s top league and looked good there so the 19 year old will play all of next season in the top league in Sweden.

Petteri Nurmi was a 7th round pick of the Canadiens in 2022 and played last season in Liiga, Finland’s top pro league. He had 15 points in 48 games with HPK in Hameenlinna and the 21 year old will continue his development there.

David Reinbacher is going to be a tricky one to place. The Canadiens immediately brought Jesperi Kotkaniemi over after drafting him third overall when a little more development time where he was more comfortable would have made sense. Hopefully the same mistake isn’t made with Reinbacher who was just taken fifth overall. He has the option of playing with the Canadiens, being sent to the AHL to play with the Laval Rocket or staying in Switzerland and playing one more year with Kloten in Switzerland which would be the right choice for his long term development.

Samuel Urban played most of last season in Slovakia with their Junior program, but finished the season in the USHL with the Sioux City Musketeers. He only played four games in the USHL and is not committed to a college program so the 18 year old, who was an undrafted invite to the Canadiens camp, will likely head back to Slovakia next season to develop.

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