Hockey

The Habs may have no choice but to recall a forward and a defenseman
Marc-Olivier Cook
The Habs may have no choice but to recall a forward and a defenseman
Credit: Screenshot / YouTube

The Canadiens will play the Sabres tonight in Montreal, then head out West with games against the Flames (Wednesday), Oilers (Thursday) and Canucks (Saturday) later this week. With Guhle currently sidelined, it's only logical that a defenseman will be recalled from the Laval Rocket, because it wouldn't make sense to go on the road with only six defensemen. And we might even expect to see a forward recalled as well… The reason is simple: right now, Kirby Dach and Patrik Laine – who missed this morning's practice – are also injured. The Habs only have 12 healthy forwards so far (including Veleno and Beck, who played in the last game), and that's not ideal. If the Habs decide that Laine and Dach aren't ready to return to action this week, they're going to need a 13th forward. And in Laval, we know there are some interesting candidates: Alex Belzile, Jared Davidson, Joshua Roy… But Florian Xhekaj's name must be popular in the discussion because the Habs weren't the same club on the ice when they got shuffled. Could we see the Unicorn being recalled tomorrow, before the Canadiens go on the road?

On defense, there are three names that seem to be obvious: Adam Engström, Marc Del Gaizo and Nathan Clurman. Engström had a good camp, Del Gaizo has NHL experience… and Clurman, on the other hand, is right-handed. They bring different things to the table and that makes them potential candidates for recall.I feel like we might want to give Engström the chance because the idea makes sense and because he was really good in camp, but I wouldn't fall out of my chair either at seeing Del Gaizo get recalled in the context of playing 46 games with the Preds in 24-25.

(Credit: Screenshot / HockeyDB)

All this to say that we'll have to watch the Canadiens' practice tomorrow morning in Brossard to get some answers to our questions. The Rocket isn't playing tonight, so we can't get any clues on that front, but there are a few questions that come to mind when I think about all this. Will the guys who will be recalled from Laval – if we take into account that the Habs will want reinforcements on offense AND defense – play this week, or will they warm up the bridge instead? And if they do play, who comes out of the lineup? Could we see Engström or Del Gaizo take the place of Struble or Arber Xhekaj? Could we see Florian Xhekaj or another guy take the place of Owen Beck or Joe Veleno? Yes, that's a lot of questions. And that's why it'll be interesting to see what the Canadiens' plans are over the next few days – especially if Dach and Laine aren't able to return to action.spacer title='Overtime'] – I love it.

–

– Who wins tonight?

– Ah well.

facebook icon Share twitter icon Tweet linkedin icon Share
Copied!