Written by Rohan Sukhdeo
Greetings and salutations everyone, this is
my first article and I hope I can offer a pleasant but insightful read on the
upcoming season. For this article, my focus will be on training camp and the
battle for the last forward roster spot. Barring a trade in the next few weeks,
the Habs have a good mix of youngsters and veterans on each line. They will
look to complement their line-up with one of their up-and-coming prospects.
First, let us go through who we can more
than likely expect to be in the line-up on opening night October 8th, against
the Leafs. The Habs will look slightly different this upcoming season as Habs
GM Marc Bergevin traded Daniel Brière to Colorado for PA Parenteau and a 5th
round pick, just before free agency opened. More changes happened on the first
day of free agency when now Ex-Habs captain Brian Gionta signed on with
Buffalo, along with Josh Georges, who was traded for a 2nd round pick at the
2016 NHL Draft. Thomas Vanek, who often was rumored to be signing with
Minnesota in the offseason, did in fact sign on with the Wild for three years at
$19.5 million. To complete his day, Marc Bergevin signed D Tom Gilbert to a two-year
pact worth $5.6 million, F Manny Malhotra to one-year $850,000 and F Jiri
Sekac to a two-year entry level contract at $925,000/year. Dale Weise and Mike
Weaver both re-signed prior to July 1st.
At first glance, based on the changes made
in the offseason, and last season playoffs, the first line would be Pacioretty,
Desharnais and Parenteau. Galchenyuk, Plekanec, Gallagher would be the second
line. Bourque, Eller, Weiss will be a very gritty third line and Prust,
Malhotra, Bournival will be the fourth line. On defense, we should be seeing
Subban and Markov as the first pairing, Gilbert and Emelin as the second pairing,
as well as Weaver and Tinordi/Beaulieu as the last pairing. With the departures,
there is going to be a fierce battle for that 13th and final forward spot at
training camp. The leading candidates to fill that role are Jiri Sekac, Jacob
de la Rose, and Sven Andrighetto.
Jiri Sekac is a native of Czech Republic who
played for HC Lev Praha in the KHL in 2013-2014. The left winger scored 11
goals and 17 assists for 28 points in 47 games, along with a +12 rating and 18
penalty minutes. He also played eight games for the Peterborough Petes of the
OHL in 2009-2010. Before signing with Montreal, he was coveted by 15 NHL teams,
including the Habs. At 6’2” and 190-lb, he sure has the size that Montreal needs
at the forward position. In the offseason, he was spotted training with fellow
Hab Thomas Plekanec and longtime Czech and NHL superstar Jaromir Jagr, in their
hometown of Kladno of the Czech Republic. “He is a very good skater and very
good with the puck, a little like Max Pacioretty”, explains Plekanec of his
future teammate, in an interview published in the Journal de Montréal. Rookie
camp has already begun and Sekac has not missed a beat, as reported by Allan
Walsh his agent, Jiri Sekac set a new Montreal Canadiens fitness record on
Friday. Due to his age and experience, Sekac is the number one prospect in the
organization. He is listed as a LW but can play the RW, which is where the Habs
need the most help. And though he is not known for his defensive game, he is
responsible in his own end, which should please head coach Michel Therien. The
lanky winger is gifted with a great wrist shot and is projected to be a borderline
second-line winger, but should start the year on the third line if he makes the
team.
Jacob de la Rose, a native of Arvika in
Sweden, Jacob stands at 6’3”, 205-lb. He was a 2nd round, 34th overall pick in
2013, and is a solid two-way player who is projected to be on the third line,
but could see second-line duties. A true team player and leader, DLR always
gives a 100% in intensity and work ethic. He doesn’t shy away from the rough
stuff and has good timing on his hits, but is not a natural scorer. His strong
two-way game and forechecking ability will only make the Habs that much better
in the long run. Last season, de la Rrose played for Leksand in Allsvenskan in
the SHL and competed for Sweden in the 2014 U20 and U18 World Junior
Championships. He scored 13 points (seven goals and six assists) in 49 games
for Leksand, adding two goals and one assist in three playoff games. In the
WJC, he scored three goals and three assists for six points in only seven games
for a Silver Medal winning Swedish squad. With his physical attributes, he will
also be given a long look at training camp. If he can find some chemistry with either
one of Eller or Plekanec, we may be seeing his name on opening night.
Sven Andrighetto, native of Sumiswald in
Switzerland. He is a 3rd round, 86th overall pick in 2013, and stands at 5’9”
and 188-lb. His physical attributes does not give him any advantage with how
Montreal is shifting their philosophy to bigger and stronger players. But this
player has a year of AHL experience under his belt playing for the Hamilton
Bulldogs in 2013-2014, and will be looking to improve his 44 points (17 goals
and 27 assists) rookie campaign. He was 15th in AHL rookie scoring and was
voted PMA Top Rookie by local Hamilton media. Hamilton did not have a good
season as they finished out of the playoffs yet again, but Andrighetto was one
of the “bright spots”, as said by Dogs' head coach Sylvain Lefebvre. Andrighetto
has a lethal combination of both speed and skill that he will bring to training
camp in hopes of forcing Habs brass to give him a shot to play with the big
club. Sven does have one advantage over Sekac and DLR where he knows the North
American game better. Both Sekac and DLR will be competing in smaller rinks for the first time, although Sekac played eight games with
Peterborough earlier in his career. For Andrighetto to be effective, he will
need to be on the first two lines, in an offensive role. For that to happen, he
will need to outplay the likes of Gallagher, Parenteau and even Galchenyuk. The
more than likely scenario is he starts the year in Hamilton, but will be the
next call up when injuries occur during the season.
After Day 1 of the intra-squad scrimmages, we can that Sekac is currently in the pole position among the above prospects as he was the only one who has shown some flashes of brilliance on the ice.
Honorable mentions to Martin Reway, Christian
Thomas, and the 2014 1st round draft pick Nikita Scherbak. Quality prospects,
but only one can make this team, so this will be a fierce battle.
Who do you think will be the surprise of the Habs' training camp?
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