MONTREAL – Training camp is over. Finally! Let’s face it, it’s about time.
That said, in light of the match that the Canadian won on Saturday evening in Ottawa, the last of the preparatory calendar, this interminable training camp did not allow us to answer the many questions that fans always ask themselves at the time. dawn of the 2023-2024 season.
Good!
It is clear that Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield will be the spearheads of the Canadian’s attack this year and for several years to come.
They will be united in the first trio and will jump on the ice from the first wave of the massive attack. A massive attack which will be anchored by Mike Matheson who played a strong match on Saturday. Against Senators from the American League, I don’t mind. But he prevailed nonetheless.
Yes! The Canadian was cleared in five massive attacks on Saturday in Ottawa. Statistically, this is far from eloquent. Very far indeed. But the players who got power play time controlled the puck outrageously in the enemy zone. They also created many very good scoring chances.
And it is precisely the way of playing much more than the results that counts in preparatory matches which are nothing more than training. It is important to remember this here.
Kirby Dach, the player I feel is the most improved from last year’s performance, will be paired – or should be if training camp means anything – with Juraj Slafkovsky who gained confidence from match to match throughout the preparatory calendar.
That leaves Monahan at center on the third line? Jake Evans midway through the fourth?
But who will complete the first two duos? Who will supervise the centers of the third and fourth lines?
All these answers are good
On Saturday, it was Rafaël Harvey-Pinard who skated to the right of Caufield and Suzuki. Before him, we saw Monahan. We saw Anderson too. I think I saw Alex Newhook as well.
Who will play with Dach and Slafkovsky if these two players are reunited on Wednesday in Toronto where CH will begin its season?
Will Brendan Gallagher be dropped into the fourth line? Will Joel Armia be dropped altogether in order to give more chances to younger people? Does Jesse Ylonen have a place in the lineup? Should we give Emil Heineman a chance?
Who will play to the right of Mike Matheson behind the Guhle-Savard duo? Johnathan Kovacevic seems to me the only one who can fill this role.
Who, Harris, Xhekaj or Barron, will be the seventh defenseman waiting for Chris Wideman to return to health?
Note that I am very far from having liked the performances of Harris and Barron since the start of the preparatory games. And no! I don’t think Mattias Norlinder can occupy a “chair” in the Canadian’s locker room.
That raises a lot of questions. Too much, some would say. And like you, I’m still waiting for answers that will help me understand.
But perhaps these answers are not ultimately important. Maybe all of these answers are correct.
In this development season which is beginning, Martin St-Louis and the staff will perhaps take advantage of the fact that the fans have already been informed that the series are out of reach, they will take advantage of this to multiply the tests in order to complete duos that seem established, create good trios and maximize the effectiveness of the back duos.
The ceiling will also impose responses
As if all this were not already complicated enough, it is important to remember that respecting the salary cap will also impose, and perhaps more in certain cases than sporting considerations, the final decisions which must be taken before 5 p.m. Monday.
In fact, they will have to be taken before this deadline since at 5 p.m. Monday the NHL will reveal the final lineups of the 32 teams on the circuit.
The Canadian, like the 31 other teams, will have to submit a list of a maximum of 23 healthy players to which the names of injured players can be added provided that the average annual salaries of all these players respect the ceiling of 83.5 million $.
Chris Wideman is injured. Christian Dvorak too. Just like Carey Price whose career is even over.
Because Dvorak will miss the first month of the season, it is possible that his name will be placed on the long-term injured list. Which would give the Habs a bit of room to maneuver.
To maximize the relief granted by the NHL in terms of salary management, the Canadian will undoubtedly try to include the name of Carey Price on his starting list. The next day, he will be moved to the long-term injured list. But having him start the season in the lineup could help the staff deal with the cap space next season.
This is why we could see players who do not have to be placed on waivers before being demoted to Laval ending up – technically – with the Rocket.
Guys like Xhekaj, Harris, RHP, Slafkovsky, Heineman, Norlinder are among the candidates for such administrative dismissals in the minors.
Because from Tuesday morning, once Price is placed on the long-term injured list – I repeat that the CH could register him as early as Monday – and therefore well before the Canadian’s departure for Toronto where he will begin the season against the Maple Leafs, these players could be recalled.
These scenarios raise further questions that cannot be answered at this time.
Two or three guards?
This brings us to the last questions on the list: questions related to goalkeepers.
Because Cayden Primeau must now be placed on waivers before being transferred to the school club, the Canadian could decide to keep him with the big club to avoid losing him.
Primeau didn’t break anything during the preparatory matches he played. His performances were not likely to raise the staff’s fear of losing him if he were ever offered to the 31 other clubs.
The problem is that behind Primeau the other goalkeepers are too young to come in as relief with the big club in the event of an injury that would chase Samuel Montembeault or Jake Allen from the net.
Jakub Dobes has been good during camp. In some ways he was better than Primeau. And perhaps quickly, he will take his place as the third goalie in the organization.
But that time has not come.
That said, if the CH “protects” Primeau by keeping him on the official list submitted at the end of PM Monday, perhaps it could lose a Ylonen, a Pezzetta, a Barron. In Barron’s case, it wouldn’t be a disaster in my opinion, but hey…
Hence the uncertainty in the case of Primeau.
But the biggest questions when it comes to goaltending are more associated with the performances of Montembeault and Allen.
It is true that the CH goalkeepers were the main victims of the fact that the team decided to play “only” six preparatory matches.
They didn’t see much action.
But Samuel Montembeault like Jake Allen are far from having been impressive in preparatory matches. They were generous with the returns. Generous on easy goals allowed.
Even with the many questions still unanswered at the dawn of the season, I would add that it is normal to wonder who, Samuel Montembeault or Jake Allen, really deserves to be in front of the net for the first game of the season?
We are still far from an answer to knowing which of the two is really able to benefit from the title of number one.
Three days before the start of the season, there are still plenty of unanswered questions: on offense, on the blue line, in front of the net and even within the Habs’ protection list.
In a construction year, there’s no need to worry too much with so much uncertainty. But they prove by 1000 that it is still far too early to believe in the Habs’ chances of surprising everyone and getting into a race towards the playoffs.
In two years, maybe. But until then, there is no point waiting for a response. In fact, the question isn’t even worth asking.
