“Going to Laval is not a punishment”

Justin Barron, Adam Engström, Kaiden Guhle, Zackary Hayes, Lane Hutson, Joshua Jacobs, Chris Jandric, Logan Mailloux, Mike Matheson, Simon Motew, Jacob Paquette, David Reinbacher, David Savard, Vincent Sévigny, Jayden Struble, William Trudeau, Tyler Wotherspoon and Arber Xhekaj.

These guys have all been invited to the Habs’ training camp, which begins today with physical testing.

Of course, some of these defensemen already have a guaranteed spot and others will have to fight for one. That said, with all the quality players out there, it’s going to be a fierce battle…

The Habs won’t be able to please everyone, and some of the youngsters will have to be sent to Laval.

Here, I’m thinking of David Reinbacher, William Trudeau, Adam Engström, Logan Mailloux and Lane Hutson. I’m sure one of them will be able to start the season in Montreal, but they won’t all be able to play for the Habs in the first game of the campaign.

The defensemen who don’t make the club will have the opportunity to progress in Laval, after all.

And that’s what’s important (and sometimes difficult) for a youngster to understand:

Rob Ramage urges the organization to be cautious about managing the Habs’ promising young defensemen:

“We went into the season with three defensive rookies two years ago (Harris, Xhekaj and Guhle). We knew it would be hard to compete with…

– Anthony Marcotte (@anthonymarcotte) September 18, 2024

Martin St-Louis is aware of this, but he’s not afraid of facing tougher decisions.

Habs coach tells himself he’s in the right place:

#Habs Martin St-Louis on the battle for spots on the blueline: “I know at some point in time there’s probably going to be some hard decisions and that’s a good thing because if it’s all easy decisions, you’re probably not in a good place.”

– Priyanta Emrith (@HabsInHighHeels) September 18, 2024

Quick as that, it’s hard to predict what the official defensive line-up will be for the first game of the season.

But if it started tonight, I’d go like this if I were Martin St-Louis:

Matheson – Guhle

Hutson – Savard

Xhekaj – Mailloux (Struble or Barron extra)

Again, that’s not to say that David Reinbacher and Adam Engström don’t have a chance of making the club.

But when you hear Francis Bouillon say they’ll need time to get used to small rinks, you’d think they’re destined to start the season in Laval.

Overtime

– It’s true that it’s weird.

Fascinated by Red Wings goaltending pecking order at the end of training camp.

Cam Talbot
Ville Husso
Alex Lyon
Jack Campbell
Sebastian Cossa

That is $8.925 million in four one-way contracts (requiring waivers) plus 2021 first-round pick Cossa, who is waiver exempt.

– Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) September 18, 2024

– Sean Monahan looks forward to playing with Adam Fantilli and Cole Sillinger.

At today’s Media Day, Sean Monahan shares his excitement to play with young players like Adam Fantilli and Cole Sillinger. pic.twitter.com/qSxB0Lw65b

– Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) September 18, 2024