Adam Engstrom: “A few seasons in Laval”

Adam Engstrom is a lesser-known defenseman among Habs fans. Because of his years spent in Europe, he’s less talked about than the Lane Hutson, David Reinbacher and Logan Mailloux of this world.

Seeing him arrive in North America will help change all that. After all, whoever logically lines up to start next season in Laval will be easier on the eyes of those who follow the Habs.

And if he performs well down there, it’ll be even more obvious.

Obviously, the Habs will want to reward their guys on merit, and if Engstrom performs well, they’ll want to test him in the NHL. But in the short term, it makes sense to see him get used to hockey here, to the organization’s system and to North American rinks under Pascal Vincent.

Like many youngsters, his performances will dictate how long he spends down there. Whether it’s no games at all or hundreds of them, he’ll have to earn his place in the sun.

But on that subject, how much time could he spend down there?

In the eyes of Simon Boisvert, who broached the subject on the most recent episode of Processus, the European defender would have to spend “a few seasons” in Laval before landing in town. And once in Montreal, the Snake sees him as a very good third-pair defenseman, but nothing more.

The good thing is that the Habs have that luxury (of letting him marinate in Laval), if they want to. Of course, I’m saying this when everyone’s healthy and knowing full well that it’s possible that in November, a rash of injuries could force the Flanelle to call up a bunch of guys.

If we assume that Mike Matheson, David Savard, Kaiden Guhle, Justin Barron and Arber Xhekaj will break into the club’s line-up, that leaves two or three spots (if the club starts with eight defensemen) for several guys.

Lane Hutson
Logan Mailloux
Jayden Struble
David Reinbacher
Adam Engstrom
William Trudeau

So there will be struggles at training camp, but there will also be struggles throughout the season. After all, you know as well as I do that an October line-up isn’t exactly cast in stone.

Here’s what I’m thinking as of September 18 for the first game of the season, for what it’s worth. Will training camp change that plan? Certainly.

Matheson – Guhle
Hutson – Savard
Xhekaj – Mailloux
Extra : Barron