Oliver Kapanen to watch waivers closely today

NHL teams must submit their rosters today. The deadline is 5 p.m.

For the Habs, not seeing Kent Hughes use the waivers yesterday gives us some clues as to the make-up of his team ahead of the first day of the regular season.

I say “day one” because the picture can obviously change quickly.

If we assume that the Habs will keep seven defensemen and two goaltenders, we can expect to see Jakub Dobes, Logan Mailloux and Adam Engstrom head for Laval.

I’d be surprised if David Savard, Mike Matheson, Kaiden Guhle, Lane Hutson, Arber Xhekaj, Jayden Struble, Justin Barron, Samuel Montembeault and Cayden Primeau didn’t form the club’s defensive corps. Barring injury or surprise, that’s likely to be it.

And offensively?

Of the 14 potential positions, expect to see Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook, Joel Armia, Christian Dvorak, Brendan Gallagher, Jake Evans, Josh Anderson, Michael Pezzetta, Alex Barré-Boulet and Joshua Roy. And this despite Roy’s difficult camp.

So, theoretically, there’s one position left. If it’s between Emil Heineman and Oliver Kapanen, everything points to Kapanen getting it. His contractual situation, his position and the quality of his camp all come into play.

If Emil Heineman starts the season in the NHL, I’ll be surprised.

#Habs Emil Heineman on his training camp

“Compared to last year, I feel I went more off instict out there, played more aggressive, didn’t think too much, just played the game, had more fun with it.”

“I felt better this year than last year. Learned a lot last year from first… pic.twitter.com/TaIeN1aqZb

– Chris G (@ChrisHabs360) October 6, 2024

But does this mean that the last position will definitely go to Kapanen? While that’s my prediction, we shouldn’t rule out the scenario of the Habs GM going in another direction. For example? Waivers.

Things can change quickly in the NHL (injuries, transactions, etc.), but in the next few hours, I’m sure Kapanen will be watching to see if his GM will claim a player in the waivers.

This is true every day, but especially today. After all, we need to finalize the line-up, and there are quite a few players available.

Will Kent Hughes take advantage of the waivers to add a strong player to his bottom-6 to relieve Arber Xhekaj of his duties as Sheriff? Will the club be tempted by a Jakob Pelletier-style gamble, despite his size? These questions are bound to arise.

Calgary waives 5-9 winger Martin St, Louis. Wins the Hart Trophy and Stanley Cup.

Calgary waives 5-9 winger Paul Byron. Becomes an assistant captain/20-goal scorer with the Habs.

Calgary waives 5-9 winger Jakob Pelletier. ???@sickpodnhldraft @sick

– Grant McCagg (@grantmccagg) October 6, 2024

Once the lineup is finalized, it will be easier to speculate on which 20 players will suit up for Wednesday’s season opener at the Bell Centre. The Maple Leafs will be visiting.

After that, the Canadiens will be in Boston to face the Bruins on Thursday night. And on Saturday, the Senators visit Quebec for a game that promises to be robust.

Overtime

– Well done.

“Sometimes, some nights, it all just comes back.” @celinedion

Cowboys. Steelers. A timeless classic on Sunday Night Football. pic.twitter.com/RzgmLRk8L6

– Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) October 7, 2024

– Hello, Tomas.

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