Jeff Gorton outlines plan for Oliver Kapanen in last week of training camp

The Montreal Canadiens have plenty of things to worry about as they begin the final week of their preseason before starting the year against the Toronto Maple Leafs next Wednesday. It would've been understandable if Jeff Gorton had skipped his appearance on Pierre McGuire's Eye Test podcast to get things straightened out, but he joined the pod and gave some honest answers. He was still hush on Patrik Laine and David Reinbacher but gave an honest assessment of Oliver Kapanen.

“Oliver Kapanen is a guy who’s come here and played really well and has opened our eyes. We have a situation with him where we have him for camp & if he doesn’t make our team, he’s gotta go back to Sweden. We’ll keep him as long as we can to make that decision. We’ll try to get him in some of these games we’re finishing off here in the next week.”

Kapanen's rise to a roster candidate likely isn't as surprising as Gorton pretended in the appearance. There were plenty of rumors that Kapanen was planning to come to Montreal and stay for the season, and he wouldn't have had that confidence without some hint from the organization that it was a possibility. Kapanen has earned a spot with his play through the preseason, and has outperformed most of the other centers on the roster. It's safe to say he is the No. 3 guy after Nick Suzuki and Kirby Dach.

Whether or not the Canadiens rush his debut is another question. The injury to Laine and the subsequent recovery time may give the Habs a new plan as to how they'll attack this season. It wouldn't hurt to let Kapanen stay in North America, and they may have already decided it's going to happen, but Gorton wasn't tipping his hand in an interview with Pierre McGuire.

You may have come for the Oliver Kapanen update, but heres a tidbit of the interview about Laine and Reinbacher's status. Regardless, it'll be an interesting couple days of news in Habs land.