Hockey

Kaapo Kahkonen: The Rocket won’t put him in their projected lineup
Michaël Petit
Kaapo Kahkonen: The Rocket won’t put him in their projected lineup
Credit: After the arrival and departure of certain players within an organization, it’s always exciting to know who will be playing with whom. It’s also interesting to know whether certain players will play in the NHL or the AHL. With the Canadiens, several cases are still uncertain, and we may not know until after their performances […]

After the arrival and departure of certain players within an organization, it's always exciting to know who will be playing with whom.

It's also interesting to know whether certain players will play in the NHL or the AHL.

With the Canadiens, several cases are still uncertain, and we may not know until after their performances at the official training camp.

Sammy Blais and Kaapo Kahkonen are two newcomers, and no one can say for sure where they'll be playing.

But there's also David Reinbacher, who could surprise many and carve out a position for himself.

On this subject, the official page of the Laval Rocket has published its projected line-up for the 2025-26 season, and some names are conspicuous by their absence.

Kahkonen, Jakub Dobes and Blais are not on the roster, which suggests that the chances of them starting their season in Montreal are higher.

As for Dobes, he's still out of contract, which explains his absence from the Rocket roster. And since it's past 5 p.m., he won't be able to go to arbitration, unlike Jayden Struble.

On the other hand, if Dobes signs, he could start in Montreal, unless he doesn't impress during the team's official camp and is traded to Laval, since he wouldn't have to go through the waivers (should he be traded down 24 hours before the start of the season).

But if both he and Kahkonen perform well, it will be difficult to give up one of them to Laval, and we could end up with another three-way tie.

Since Kahkonen has more NHL experience than Dobes, if one of them is demoted, Dobes is the one most likely to go to the minors to perfect his game.

As I mentioned above, Sammy Blais is also not on the Rocket's projected roster, which would suggest that he would start the season in Montreal.

Even if he isn't one of the top 12 forwards, he would be an excellent candidate as 13th forward (definitely a better option than Michael Pezzetta).

As for Reinbacher, he's in this projected lineup and will have to impress at the Habs' practice camp to earn a spot.

We can expect Lane Hutson, Kaiden Guhle, Mike Matheson, Noah Dobson and Alexandre Carrier to be regulars on the blue line. It would be very surprising, if not impossible, not to see them in the Habs' season opener.

Struble is currently in arbitration and Arber Xhekaj often skipped his turn last year, so their role is far from guaranteed.

This would give Reinbacher the opportunity to muddy the waters and force the Habs to keep him up top to start the season.

But since he missed a good part of the season with a serious injury, it would be more prudent to start him in Laval and have him recalled as needed, depending on his performance.

Let's wait and see what training camp has in store, because that's what will determine who breaks into the Habs lineup.


Overtime

– Alex Romanov had some advice for Ivan Demidov.

– Here's the full list of players who have opted for arbitration, including Jayden Struble. Jakub Dobes is not on the list.

– Still, interesting.

– Read more.

– Another day, another Springer Dinger.

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