With increased expectations comes the increased importance of questions surrounding the team upon which those expectations are heaped.
The Montreal Canadiens don’t have massive expectations for success this season, but they are rising, which means the importance of the myriad of questions surrounding this team as it begins the on-ice portion of training camp Thursday has also increased.
The answers to those questions will go a long way toward determining whether those heightened expectations will be met.
There are way more than five questions surrounding this team, but here are what we consider to be the most important five, along with a shot at what the answers might be as we work our way through training camp.
What version of Kirby Dach will we get?
At the end of last season’s training camp, it was easy to argue that Dach looked like the Canadiens’ best forward. His skill at his size was very effective, and his ability to return to that level despite missing almost an entire season of action might be the biggest determining factor in the Canadiens hitting their goal of being in the playoff conversation come April.
Since Dach’s last game, Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovský have made massive strides and both are generating a good amount of buzz. Dach’s training camp last season is easy to forget in some ways because it was relatively meaningless. But the way he looked in that camp, combined with the way he played during the second half of the previous season, made it at least seem like Dach was on the verge of becoming a cornerstone player for the Canadiens.
“It would help us a lot,” Suzuki said at the Canadiens’ golf tournament on Monday. “He’s a fantastic player, another good centre-back for us.”
But there’s no way to know if this version of Dach will be the same amazing player until we see him in camp and, more importantly, in the regular season doing the same things we saw from him in camp last year.
It was a physical edge that Dach added to his game towards the end of the 2022-23 season that really accentuated how effective he could be at his size. He pushed back physically against opponents. He became a crushing advance supervisor. He dropped the gloves once in a while.
Will his injury create any doubt in his mind that he can continue to play like this, despite the fact that he was at his best?
“I’m sure it’s going to take some time to get back on track, but that’s what training camp is all about and you manage each player case by case, what they’ve been through and where they’re at,” coach Martin St. said Wednesday. “I expect him to dive right in.”
Don’t put too much pressure on him, but Dach’s ability to find the game he showed a year ago is extremely vital to what the Canadiens are trying to build here. Without him being an impact center, as was his own stated goal on Monday, the Canadiens have a massive hole to fill at that position.
But if Dach picks up where he left off, the Canadiens really don’t have massive holes at forward and can focus their attention elsewhere.
There may not be a more consistent player on the Canadiens’ coaching roster than Dach.
“We know what he is capable of; it’s exciting,” St. Louis said Wednesday. “Last year after camp, he looked really good. And then obviously, that made that hurt feel almost worse. So for us, it’s just day to day with him. He’ll be fine.”
What can the Canadiens get out of Patrik Laine?
Getting a 44-goal score in the NHL should be seen as a slam-dunk win. But a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since Laine did so in his second NHL season in 2017-18. He had physical limitations and mental roadblocks to his continued ascension in his career.
Getting into the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program isn’t easy, but it appears to have done Laine a world of good, which makes this gamble seem less risky than it might appear just by looking at his stat sheet.
Former teammates have said how much he loves the game and how much pressure he puts on himself, but Laine seems to have gained some perspective on that love that might just allow him to find the right balance that will allow him to thrive in Montreal.
Laine was traded to the Canadiens from the Blue Jackets last month. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
“It’s not like that’s really changed, I’m still going to be demanding and always want to be the best,” Laine said Monday at the golf tournament. “But I think it’s just a game. We get to play this game that we love because of our job, and obviously every day we want to get better, and we want to win. But it’s just a game and you can’t be too hard on yourself. You have a bad game, don’t take care of it. It’s always another game, always another chance to improve and get another win. But it will be a good test, this year, to test my new skills mentally.”
St. Louis wants to reinfuse Laine with his love of the game in a healthy way, and if he can connect with him on a brain level, the payoff could be great. We don’t know if that will happen, but the circumstances seem to be lined up for Laine to make the most of his enormous talent in Montreal.
“I think we play a good team game; I don’t think there are many teams that play the game the way we do, the way we can transition,” Dach said of the Canadiens’ chances this season. “Everybody’s a year older, a little more mature, a little more experience, and then we add Patty Laine. Honestly, it’s one of the best shots I’ve ever seen his release, and that’s going to add a little more skill and talent up front. Hopefully we just keep making strides and getting those meaningful games down the stretch.”
What will the Canadiens do with Lane Hutson?
I already shared my feelings about how the Canadiens should play this coming out of camp, but two things St. Louis and director of player development Rob Ramage said Wednesday reinforced the belief that they should start the season with Hutson on the. roster
First, I asked St. Louis if, as an undersized forward, he would be in a good position to help an undersized defenseman learn how to survive in the NHL.
“Yes, sure,” replied St. Louis. “I mean, I know I didn’t play defense, but a similar size and probably a guy that, coming into the pros, my college career I kind of had the puck. And now, you’re going to get to the NHL, you’re probably going to have it a little less. So the game off the puck, whether you’re a defenseman or a forward, there are principles of how you’re going to play that, and I think I can help him with that. And that’s usually one of my, I think, strengths and focus, is I don’t really coach the puck.”
Looks like someone is getting ready to train Hutson, right?
And then I asked Ramage if there were certain players, more cerebral players, who were better suited to develop in the NHL than the AHL, explaining that I was thinking of Hutson. Again, a pretty telling answer.
“Without a doubt, there is a difference between the two leagues,” Ramage said. “Obviously, the talent level, but it’s a heavier league. So to answer your question, yes, (the AHL) suits some guys better than others.”
When you combine those comments with how Laval Rocket coach Pascal Vincent spoke at the prospects challenge over the weekend as if he no coach Hutson this season, it’s hard not to see an overall plan slowly reveal itself.
We’ll see how Hutson does in training camp, but it looks like he won’t be fighting for a job — he’ll be fighting to keep a job.
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How will the defense battle unfold?
If Hutson were to win a job in Montreal out of camp — and that remains to be determined — that would essentially leave two jobs to be won by Jayden Struble, Logan Mailloux, David Reinbacher and Adam Engström — one of those jobs being the seventh. defender This is considering that the Canadiens would not be willing to lose Justin Barron to waivers and that even if Arber Xhekaj is not completely waiver eligible, he still has a solid roster line because that need for waivers will appear very soon. .
The reality of waiver eligibility as a determining factor in deciding a season-opening roster does not appear to be lost on St.
“I don’t think it bothers me,” he said. “Being in the game this long, I understand that’s how it works. So, for me, it’s not something I can control, so why would I let it bother me?”
I think we can safely assume that barring an extraordinary camp from either of them — which is entirely possible — Reinbacher and Engström are most likely bound for Laval. Which leaves a pretty neat ability to have Mailloux and Struble make the team along with Mike Matheson, David Savard, Kaiden Guhle, Xhekaj, Barron and Hutson.
What happens with the opening night lineup is harder to ascertain. Having Struble or Barron or Hutson or maybe even Xheka sitting for extended periods is far from ideal, and having so many young defensemen in the lineup doesn’t exactly run parallel to the Canadiens’ stated goal of being in the playoff mix.
This is the first time Montembeault has entered training camp in a position where the No. 1 goalie position is his to lose. That represents a completely different mindset for a goaltender. How will Montembeault handle it?
“I’m not usually someone who really overthinks anything or overstresses anything,” he said Monday at the golf tournament. “Obviously, it’s a lot of pressure, but it’s something I try not to think about too much. It’s something I don’t want to take for granted because it’s something you can lose very quickly, so I don’t want to think too far ahead. So I want to think one game at a time, give my team a chance to win that game. And obviously, if I play a lot more, I have to take care of myself off the ice. I’m really excited for the season.”
Montembeault’s importance to the Canadiens’ ability to compete for a playoff spot cannot be overstated. His number of goals saved was the biggest reason why the Canadiens were about middle of the pack when it came to goals against at five-on-five per 60 minutes of ice time.
And in addition to the desire to prove himself as a number 1 goalie and keep the Canadiens in the playoff race for as long as possible, there is another carrot dangling from a stick in front of Monteabeault: the 4 Nations Showdown in Montreal. and Boston in February.
“Obviously it would be a goal for me because most of the players that make that tournament will be the ones that go to the Olympics. It’s almost like training camp for that,” Montembeault said. “So that’s going to be in the back of my mind. I don’t don’t want to think too much about it, but obviously I would be really proud to go represent my country, so it will be important for me to have a good start to the season.”
Montembeault spent the summer working on his balance and spatial awareness in a zero-gravity machine to improve his ability to re-center and find his bearings faster. He is aware that he still needs to improve despite being one of the top goalkeepers in the league last season to prevent expected goals.
But spinning on a zero-gravity machine isn’t the only way Montembeault wants to improve.
“I think I have to try to play a little deeper in my crease, try to beat the pass because now they’re playing so fast, especially on the power play or in zone entries,” he said. “If they make two or three passes and I play too high, I’ll start chasing the puck.”
(Top photo by Kirby Dach: David Kirouac / Imagn Images)
