Canadians Training Camp Preview: Player development is high on the priority list

MONTREAL — It’s Day 1 of a new season for the Montreal Canadiens and the team can only go up.

They turned 32^nd place last year – in the unenviable position of having to stare at every other team in the NHL – and although the Brass wouldn’t mind repeating the feat for the best chance of landing generational talent Connor Bedard, to add to what is becoming one of the more talented candidate pools in the league, the manager and his players have no desire to carry that stink for another season.

Your process begins now, and the stories you write will be rich and compelling.

We can’t wait to get to the bottom of them. But before we do that, here’s a look at what’s in store for the coming weeks of the Canadians’ training camp.

Place for current salary cap: minus $10,239,166 million

GM: KentHughes

head coach: Martin St.Louis

Assistant Coach: Stephane Robidas, Alexandre Burrows, and Trevor Letowski

Unsigned Players: none

How will the inexperienced coaching staff ensure player development is properly managed at training camp?

For a team that has made development its top priority and won’t be battling for a playoff spot this season — let alone the Stanley Cup — the process starts right here at training camp.

It’s affecting so many of the participants, from 2022 first-round picks Juraj Slafkovsky and Filip Mesar to young defenders Justin Barron, Jordan Harris, Kaiden Guhle, Mattias Norlinder and Arber Xhekaj, all in the mix to be around to play in the upcoming NHL games months.

Martin St.Louis and the Canada coaching staff not only have to bring this team together and create a strong bond within the room to get everyone to defy the considerably low expectations, but also put these young players to the test in positions bring to shine. You need to protect them from quick public reactions to preseason results, good or bad, while honestly assessing where they are in their development.

And while all of this seems pretty normal at any training camp, it’s still a delicate process for a relatively fresh NHL coach and a staff that has less experience than anyone else in the league.

Every decision they make, no matter how small, matters big in the big picture—especially in a white-hot market like Montreal.

Think of Slafkovsky, who was selected as the overall winner in July and was anointed a star from the moment he donned a Canadiens jersey. Everything St. Louis and his associates do to him over the coming weeks will be dissected down to the last detail.

If they decide to start him on what appears to be the team’s third row and bill it as a relief to him, people will say they don’t really see what he can do with players like Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield who he is likely to play as a developed NHL product. And conversely, if the 18-year-old starts with Suzuki and Caufield and doesn’t immediately start piling goals — even in less structured and meaningless preseason games — the same people will immediately judge him unfit for that spotlight and say St. Louis and the staff would have rushed him.

Never mind that Slafkovsky is about to take his very first steps under that burning spotlight, and giving him a grace period to adjust seems appropriate. Decisions with such hyped prospects are rarely digested as rationally as the people making them hope they will be.

It’ll be fascinating to see how St. Louis formulates his decisions and navigates all of this intense scrutiny, because what he says publicly is also a big part of properly developing prospects like Slafkovsky.

Of course, the decisions he and the other coaches make ultimately determine the process. There’s not much more to say about them until they start making them.

A fight at the training camp to watch:

The big one is defensive, where there are a few spots up for grabs and the players competing for them are mostly under 23 years old.

Joel Edmundson, Mike Matheson, David Savard and Chris Wideman are the only veterans at this position, and that means this competition could stretch beyond the other 17 defenders invited to camp – a topic covered in more detail in the section below .

Of the 17, however, it really boils down to which three of Barron, Harris, Guhle, Norlinder, Xhekaj and Schueneman will shine brightest in training and exhibition games.

Barron has a slight lead over one spot as a right-footed defender, as everyone else would be shooting left and—apart from Harris—playing out of position to fill in one of the team’s biggest holes.

Both players got their feet wet in the NHL last year, as did Schueneman, who has been a longer pro than all these young defensemen and has played over 130 games at the AHL level.

The fact that the Michigan native is 27 and in the prime of his career makes him a contender for earning a place on the Canadian blue line.

Guhle also appeared physically ready a year ago before being sent back for one final dominant season in the WHL and international junior scene. It’s not far-fetched to say that the 6-foot-2, physical defender is better prepared for a full-time role than any other player he faces at this camp.

And then there’s Xhekaj, who impressed the Canadiens’ lead at rookie camp last week and delivered a well-rounded — and extremely punishing — game that drew so much attention from Hughes during his final season in the OHL that the GM gave him As one of the players mentioned, he believes he will help mitigate the loss of Alex Romanov to the trade in this final draft.

You could say that it doesn’t really matter how that plays out at camp because it’s highly likely that all of these players will rotate through the roster at some point this season.

But a season-long competition on the blue line begins now and nothing will be more compelling than seeing the first leg of it be decided.

Projected setup outside of camp / depth chart:

Note that this is a loose prediction based on the current depth chart and the uncertainty that players are actually healthy enough to start the season. It’s done before players even undergo medical exams, so nothing is taken for granted until that happens, and of course, that picture is pretty fluid.

It will be fluid throughout camp and throughout the season. As always.

We’re just basing this on what the Canadians have at the moment, although we can see some changes on the horizon before the meaningful games begin.

For example, with the team lacking experience on the blue line and wanting to protect the confidence of all the young players fighting for places there, it’s entirely conceivable that the Canadians will turn to the relinquish wire to fill the void. They have top priority on claims after last season’s bottom spot, giving them ample opportunity to expand their roster without withdrawing.

Not that they wouldn’t subtract.

Whether it’s by trade or waiver, Canadians likely have a body or two to give up ahead of time to create both roster and salary caps. Keep all of that in mind as you ponder these lines and pairings.

Forward:

Juraj Slafkovsky-Nick Suzuki-Cole Caufield

Evgeny Dadonov/Jonathan Drouin-Christian Dvorak-Josh Anderson

Rem Pitlick-Kirby Dach-Brendan Gallagher

Mike Hoffman-Sean Monahan/Jake Evans-Joel Armia

*Paul Byron is listed as injured and it is questionable if he will start the season in time.

Defender:

Mike Matheson-David Savard

Joel Edmundson Justin Barron

Kaiden Guhle-Chris Wideman

*Jordan Harris and Corey Schueneman alternate

Goalkeeper:

Jake Allen

Samuel Montembault

Cayden Primeau

*With full knowledge that Primeau could outshine Montembeault at camp with Laval after a stellar performance in the 2022 Calder Cup Playoffs, his eligibility to be sent to the minors without waivers puts him at a competitive disadvantage — especially given his lack of NHL depth the Canadians on this position.