Battle for jobs begins in earnest for Habs
Plenty of roster holes to plug for team brass
Internal competition has become a buzzword for the Canadiens and it starts Friday when 61 players hit the ice for the start of training camp in Brossard.
Coaches are prone to bend the truth at this time of year, saying every job is open and they are waiting to see a deserving youngster force them to find a spot on the roster.
This may be that rare year when there’s some truth to the cliché. There are 23 players in camp with one-way NHL contracts, but there are huge holes to fill on defence, the team is hoping Charles Hudon or another young player can ignite the offence and the search party has yet to locate a No. 1 centre.
In the past 12 months, the team that seemingly can never have enough defencemen lost Andrei Markov, Alexei Emelin, Nathan Beaulieu, Mark Barberio, Greg Pateryn and Mikhail Sergachev.
General manager Marc Bergevin added Karl Alzner, David Schlemko, Joe Morrow and the ageless Mark Streit, but the task for coach Claude Julien will be to come up with productive pairings. Alzner, Schlemko and Jordie Benn have all been suggested as partners for Shea Weber and the challenge is finding someone to match his 26 minutes a game.
There’s also a matter of finding someone to replace Markov as the power play quarterback. That was Streit’s bread and butter in his first stint with the Canadiens, but Julien will need to have confidence that the Swiss veteran can play defence.
Offence was the major concern last season and the Canadiens were bounced from the playoffs in the first round because they couldn’t score against the Rangers. The personnel up front is basically the same as last season with Alex Radulov being swapped out for Jonathan Drouin. There are 13 forwards with one-way deals and that group doesn’t include Michael McCarron, Daniel Carr, Jacob De La Rose or Hudon.
Many fans believe Hudon is the answer to the team’s offensive woes, but that might be too much pressure to put on an undersized fifth-round draft pick who has yet to score a goal in the NHL.
Fans won’t have to obsess over whether Alex Galchenyuk will get a chance to play centre because the Canadiens have made it clear he won’t. Drouin will get a shot at the position to start camp, but if he doesn’t work out Bergevin may be forced to use some of the $8.5 million of available cap space.
The Canadiens’ rookie camp ended in Brossard Wednesday and there were a lot of happy faces as all 16 players were extended invitations to the main camp. The group included Quebecers Jordan Boucher, Maxime Fortier and Alexandre Goulet, who all attended the rookie camp on a tryout basis. It also included St-Bruno’s Antoine Waked, who signed an entry-level deal in April after scoring 39 goals with Rouyn-Noranda.
The on-ice sessions begin Friday and Saturday at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. There will be an intrasquad game Sunday at Bell Centre.