Montreal Canadiens: Three Players Who Raised Their Stock In Training Camp

Emil Heineman

Emil Heineman was a bit of an unknown when the Canadiens acquired him. He was part of the Tyler Toffoli trade, arriving in Montreal with a first round pick for the Habs former sniper.

It had been the second time Heineman was traded at a young age as he was drafted originally by the Florida Panthers but traded to the Flames in the Sam Bennett trade. That kind of seemed like a red flag as he was 20 years old and already dealt twice, but the Panthers picked him in the second round of the 2020 NHL Draft for a reason.

That reason would be a unique combination of size and skill. Heineman is just over six feet tall and nearly 200 pounds, but also has great skating and a fantastic shot. All of these attributes were on display during training camp, and has kept him on the roster much longer than anyone anticipated before training camp began.

The Swedish winger arrived in North America late last season after his SHL campaign came to a close. He has eight goals and 15 points in 35 games in Sweden, but immediately caught fire when he landed with the Rocket.

He played 11 games to close out the AHL regular season, scoring seven goals and nine points. That was quite a debut for the young winger and he carried the momentum into training camp.

Heineman actually started camp on the team’s top line with Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki, so the coaching staff obviously saw something in him and wanted to see how he played in a great situation. He isn’t likely to start the regular season on the team’s top line, but he has played great in the preseason, taken advantage of his opportunity and will likely be one of the first forwards called up this season, assuming he doesn’t make the opening night roster.

No one would have guessed that just a couple of weeks ago.