Canadiens: Prospects Entering Season With Last Chance To Prove It

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The Montreal Canadiens 2023-24 season is right around the corner. The players have already assembled for training camp, all 72 of them, and their preseason got underway with a loss to the New Jersey Devils last night.

Of those 72 players, four were already released as they were sent back to their respective Junior teams. Cedrick Guindon, Florian Xhekaj, Quentin Miller and Jan Spunar were all released from training camp earlier this week, and with Carey Price, Chris Wideman and Christian Dvorak all out with injuries, the roster is now down to 65 active players.

We got a look at about a third of those players in their first preseason game, and will continue to watch as the team plays out their final five exhibition contests starting with a game against the Ottawa Senators tonight.

Some of the players showing up for training camp already know their roster spot is locked in and others know they will be playing the year in Junior or the minor leagues, but there are a few roster spots up for grabs.

There are also a handful of younger players in the organization that know this is an important year whether they are playing for an NHL job or not. Some players are at risk of seeing the team move on from them if they can not convince them otherwise this season. These are players that have not solidified their spot in the organization yet and the team will have to decide by next June whether to offer them a contract or not.

With a limit of 50 contracts per team, the Canadiens, who have drafted a lot of players recently, need to be careful not to use up all of their contract slots too quickly. So, they will be cutting some bait at season’s end.

These three players need to prove something this season or they will no longer be part of the Canadiens organization.

Cedrick Guindon

Cedrick Guindon was a fourth round pick of the Canadiens in 2022 after a strong rookie season in the Ontario Hockey League. He sat out the 2020-21 season, as many players in Ontario did due to Covid, but burst onto the scene with a strong season in 2021-22.

He scored 30 goals and 59 points in 68 games for the Owen Sound Attack, immediately becoming one of their go to offensive players in his 17 year old Junior season. It was a great debut for the Rockland, Ontario native.

However, he was not able to take a big step forward in 2022-23. As an 18 year old in the OHL, he did score 69 points, which was a ten point improvement from the previous season, but he also dropped to 22 goals which were eight less than his rookie season. It is not like he fell off the map or anything, but he just didn’t take a big leap forward as you would like to see from a teenaged player.

His numbers are reminiscient of Allan McShane who was a fourth round pick of the Canadiens in 2018. He scored 34 goals and 69 points in 62 games in 2018-19 and then had 23 goals and 67 points in 62 games the following year. The Habs chose not to offer him a contract at that time.

Guindon is now entering a season where he needs to show improvement over the past two years. If he hovers around the 25-30 goal and 65-70 point area yet again the team may be worried about his lack of improvement and choose not to use a contract slot on him. He will need to set career highs in OHL points to earn an entry-level contract.

Luke Tuch

Luke Tuch was the Canadiens second round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. He had played the previous season with the United States Development Program where he had 15 goals and 30 points in 47 games.

Tuch was never going to become an offensive wizard and no one expects him to become one now, but he did show some offensive potential at the development program but it hasn’t flourished while playing college hockey.

The 6’2″ and 203 pound left winger was drafted because of his size and ability to win puck battles, create chaos in front of the opposing team’s net and simply dig out pucks from the corners. He is the big, skilled, hardworking winger who does the dirty work and allows a little more freedom for the smaller creative forwards to work their own magic with the puck.

But can he do it at the pro level? Tuch was in his third NCAA season last year and scored 20 points in 40 games. That’s not terrible production, but it does not instill confidence that he can be much of an offensive player at the pro level at all. He had 11 points in 16 college games as a rookie but then just ten points in 26 games the following year.

At this point, the 21 year old does not appear to be a blossoming NHL player. His lack of production and awkward skating stride are definitely working against him. He has one season left at Boston University, and will need to show a bit more footspeed or a little more offensive punch if he is going to get an entry-level contract at the end of the season.

Mattias Norlinder

Mattias Norlinder was a third round pick of the Habs in the 2019 NHL Draft. A skilled, smooth skating defenseman with plenty of offensive upside, Norlinder came highly regarded and appeared to have a combination of skills that would make him a valuable defender in today’s National Hockey League.

It has not really worked out that way yet, and Norlinder has had his ups and downs as a Canadiens prospect. He spent last season with the Laval Rocket, scoring 19 points in 67 games, but did not earn a promotion to the NHL club even with dozens of injuries throughout the season.

That isn’t to suggest he is done as a prospect, but he is entering the final year of his entry-level contract and we could see him jump back across the ocean to play in the Swedish Hockey League if things don’t work out this season.

The Canadiens have an embarassment of riches blossoming on the blue line and Norlinder is just one piece of a lengthy defense pipeline. Kaiden Guhle, Jordan Harris and Arber Xhekaj are three young left shooting defensemen who are already playing at the NHL level and Lane Hutson and Adam Engstrom could be signing with the Canadiens in the near future. Add in Jayden Struble and William Trudeau and things are crowded on the left side of the blue line.

Norlinder is going to have to take a big step forward this season, or he will be lost in the blue line shuffle when Hutson turns pro and Engstrom comes to North America. Otherwide, Norlinder could be playing in Frolunda in 2024-25.

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