Luke Mittelstadt will get his chance this year, according to Renaud Lavoie

DansLesCoulisses.com
Luke Mittelstadt will get his chance this year, according to Renaud Lavoie
Credit: NHL.com - Canadiens de Montréal

Since the start of the Canadiens' training camp, all eyes have been on players like David Reinbacher and Florian Xhekaj, but other players have gone unnoticed due to their lack of status.

That's the case with Luke Mittelstadt, who is impressing without making too much noise on the Canadiens' blue line.

Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports has certainly taken notice, and he stated on the JiC show on Thursday that he expects Mittelstadt to get a chance with the Canadiens this season.

The TVA Sports insider knows full well that Mittelstadt won't start the season in Montreal due to the depth among the Habs' defensemen, but he expects him to be called up to play at least one game during the season.

And all of this is solely due to the veteran hierarchy because, as Lavoie explained, Mittelstadt has been playing better than some of the Canadiens' established defensemen since the start of camp.

His skills were on full display during the Canadiens' first preseason game against the Maple Leafs on Saturday. He played intelligently on the ice, and his skating ability surprised more than a few people.

The trend continued through Thursday's intra-squad game, where the defenseman once again impressed with his skills.

The biggest factor working against Mittelstadt is his 5-foot-11 frame. Montreal needs to add some physicality, and even though Mittelstadt is excellent, he isn't the type of player who can bring that kind of physicality to the game.

One thing is certain: he could become indispensable to the Laval Rocket if David Reinbacher manages to carve out a regular spot with the Canadiens.

We should therefore be in for a duo of excellent defensemen in Laval with Adam Engstrom and him. It remains to be seen which of these two players will get called up first if any Canadiens defensemen get injured.

Mittelstadt is adding to Kent Hughes's “luxury problem”—he has too many options on the blue line.


In a nutshell

– That would be surprising.

– The Blue Jackets will have to do some juggling to get under the salary cap.

– We wish him success in Vancouver.

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