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Pretty much everyone – except Kirby Dach – has had a chance to play a pre-season game with the Canadiens. I know, the sample isn't big/reliable yet, but I've already seen enough to come to a few conclusions about the identity of the players who will start the year with the big club. In 2023-24 and 2024-25, Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton have decided to start the season with 20 skaters, excluding goaltenders. Remember that they could go as high as 23 players, but that for salary and financial reasons, keeping two spares – not three – is the strategy that has been prioritized by Montreal's top management. I know that Carey Price's contract is no longer on Montreal's books, but I think we'll still opt for a 20-player roster plus goalies. With every dollar saved under the salary cap, more money can be accumulated for in-season trades. 11forwardsare already guaranteed to make the team: Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky, Josh Anderson, Brendan Gallagher, Jake Evans, Ivan Demidov, Patrik Laine, Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook and Zachary Bolduc. We're told the plan is to have Kirby Dach in uniform by October 8, so I'm counting him among the 11 forwards who will start the season with the Canadiens.At that point, there are still two positions to be filled. Based on what I saw yesterday, I'm prepared to say that Samuel Blais MUST be the 13th forward. He ticks all the boxes of what you're looking for in a 13th forward. He handed out four checks – including a reverse hit – and blocked two shots. He brings energy, size(6'2), grit and experience (29 years old). To play on a four or to watch the game from the stands, Blais is your man.And he speaks French…So who will win the only battle up front, that of a place for a (young?) player to play on the bottom six and who will also find himself in the stands at times? There are four candidates: Oliver Kapanen, Joe Veleno, Florian Xhekaj and Owen Beck.Owen Beck isn't ready to play in the NHL in my opinion. It would be wiser to give him big responsibilities in Laval, rather than a limited role in Montreal. Next,Oliver Kapanen is looking more and more like an average player who could play several years in the NHL. However, I still believe he needs more games in Laval to be truly ready to play in the best league in the world on a regular basis. He's only 21 games into his NHL career, and there's no hurry in his case. content-ads]Joe Veleno was the most-used forward last night, but he won only 38.5% of his face-offs and was blanked on the scoresheet. He did, however, give away five hits. Florian Xhekaj, for his part, is in pole position in my opinion. He was one of the least-used players, yet he still found a way to influence the course of yesterday's match.One goal, plus-1, two shots, one blocked shot, two checks, one fight… all in less than 14 minutes of ice time! And 80% of face-off wins
Xhekaj put on weight over the summer and is coming off a rookie season of 24 goals – only four of which were on the power play – and 175 penalty minutes in the AHL. He also brings something that was sorely lacking in the last playoffs: toughness and energy. What's more, the younger brother has more to gain from playing 9 or 10 minutes on the habs' bottom six than 18 to 20 minutes on the Rocket's top six. Why is that? Simply because the plan was never to make him a top-six NHL player. Playing for the Habs this season wouldn't slow down his development; on the contrary
Kaapo Kahkonen was in the AHL last year, and last night, he looked like an AHL goalie: two goals on 12 shots, but his moves weren't always top-notch, let's put it that way. Although he'll have to go through the waivers (unlike Dobes), I'm pretty sure Kahkonen will be cut in early October. I'd be surprised if he wasn't, since that would mean Montembeault would have to be overused in order to have any hope of making the playoffs.
