The leaders of the Canadian have promised changes.
They have honored their commitments so far.
Therefore, it’s time to put on the playing surface a different team, a formation that has changed its image for a few months.
The training camp will not offer any major surprises since the attack has already undergone significant changes: the arrival of Sean Monahan, Kirby Dach, Evgenii Dodanov offers another dimension to the attack of the teams up and provides Martin St-Louis with more options.
A question: will Juraj Slafkovsky be able to force the hand of the decision-makers and obtain a regular position?
Or, will we take advantage of a context where, the team having little chance of achieving the unthinkable, we might as well not rush its entry and give it the opportunity to develop its game?
The most intense fight, we will discover it with the defensive brigade.
It is often said that the best hopes of the Canadian, we find them among the defenders.
We expect a tight fight. Mike Matheson, David Savard and Joel Edmundson already have their place in the locker room. But, there will be four positions to fill.
The decision-makers will have to make the right choices although they will establish, as Kent Hughes has noted on a few occasions, a schedule between Montreal and Laval to ensure that young players can play as often as possible and benefit from the development program. .
It is the post-Price era that is beginning.
Still unemployed
Some names: PK Subban, Loui Eriksson, Anton Strälman, Danny DeKeyser, Calvin de Haan, Antoine Roussel. What do these players have in common? They still haven’t found a taker for the next season.
Yet they are free as the wind. DeKeyser and de Haan have earned invites to attend National League training camp. But that PK Subban still finds himself without a job, it’s still amazing,
But, in fact, is it so surprising?
He no longer has the resources to find himself in the top 4 of a team’s defenders. He didn’t break anything during his time in New Jersey, quite the contrary.
Some general managers have no interest in signing a 33-year-old player with a fairly controversial past.
Subban made his fortune during his time in Montreal. After all, didn’t he win the Norris Trophy? But over the years it got worse.
Will he get an invitation to participate in a training camp?
We doubt it.
The others: Strälman no longer has the speed to stop the opponent’s attacks. DeKeyser and de Haan are seen as defenders who can, on occasion, help a team plug a hole in the top 4 from defense.
Antoine Roussel? He has character.
Quebecers who shine
A few notes on the different National League team training camps and information regarding some Quebec skaters.
First-round pick in the last draft, Nathan Gaucher was quick to leave his calling card in a game once morest the Arizona Coyotes rookies.
This should please Patrick Roy, his coach with the Quebec Remparts. The ex-keeper did not fail to praise the talent of the young player …
In Edmonton, we wonder if Xavier Bourgault will not change the plans of the decision-makers of the Oilers,
Last year with the Shawinigan Cataractes, he had a solid season and quickly rose in the evaluation of prospects for the Alberta team.
Ken Holland doesn’t have a reputation for welcoming a player to the National League roster before spending a stint in the American League. Except that he refrained from any comment in the case of Bourgault …
Will Samuel Poulin take advantage of some changes made by the Penguins to earn a position in the squad’s attacking group? There are one or two vacancies for every four candidates…
William Dufour has had some good times in the QMJHL and is one of the New York Islanders’ top prospects. However, with Lou Lamoriello, you have to be patient and the Islanders have made very few changes in their attack…
A dangerous game
David Pastrnak wants to spend his entire career with the Boston Bruins. Mathew Barzal sings the same refrain, stating that he has no intention of playing with any team other than the New York Islanders.
Question: Do the Bruins and Islanders organizations have the same intentions?
Absolutely, on the other hand Lou Lamoriello is known for not throwing his money out the window and, in Boston, Cam Neely and Don Sweeney have changed their philosophy to respect reality. They awarded Charlie McAvoy a $9,500,000 deal. Unheard of with the Bruins.
The start of training camp is fast approaching. Pastrnak will be able to take advantage of his unrestricted free agent status at the end of the season, and Barzal will be a restricted free agent with the right to arbitration.
An organization never sends a good message to other National League players when it drags out talks on a new deal, especially negotiations involving the best players in the team.