Mete lock to start season on Canadiens’ revamped blue-line
Coach Claude Julien wouldn’t confirm it after Saturday’s 9-2 win over the Ottawa Senators, but you can expect to see Victor Mete on the blue-line beside Shea Weber when the Canadiens open the regular season Thursday in Buffalo.
In Saturday’s pre-season finale, the 19-year-old scored a goal, added an assist and was plus-4 while logging 18:30 of ice time. After he scored the Canadiens’ ninth goal, the Bell Centre crowd started chanting Mete’s name. Did he hear them?
“I didn’t, actually,” the teenager said after the game. “All I heard is loud noise ... I didn’t hear what they were saying. But if they were saying my name, it’s pretty special.”
Mete looks like a special player — especially when you factor in that he was a fourth-round pick in 2016. Last season with the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights, Mete posted 15-29-44 totals in 50 games and was plus36.
The kid can skate and wasn’t afraid to jump into the play offensively during the pre-season, using his speed to get back into position quickly afterward. He was a treat to watch.
Mete said that heading into training camp, he knew the Canadiens didn’t have many offensive-minded defencemen and thought he might have a good chance to make the team.
When asked after Friday’s 3-1 win over the Florida Panthers if the Canadiens coaching staff had put any limitations on him offensively, Mete said: “They haven’t said anything to me yet, so I’m just kind of doing what I usually do.
“I guess I’ll stop when they tell me to stop.”
Mete must have Marc Bergevin smiling after the Canadiens GM lost half of his top six defencemen during the off-season with Andrei Markov going to the KHL, Alexei Emelin being claimed by the Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft and then traded to Nashville and former firstround pick Nathan Beaulieu traded to Buffalo. Bergevin also traded top prospect Mikhail Sergachev to Tampa Bay for forward Jonathan Drouin. Injuries to defencemen Noah Juulsen (broken foot) and David Schlemko (hand) during training camp didn’t help.
Defence will be the biggest question mark for the Canadiens heading into the regular season and it’s a big ask to expect a 19-year-old — especially one who is five-foot-nine — to log toptwo minutes. But Bergevin dug himself a big hole on the blueline and Mete right now seems like the best player to fill the one beside Weber. You could say Bergevin got lucky with this fourthround pick. You could also say it was good scouting.
Sergachev, the No. 9 overall pick in 2016, started last season with the Canadiens as an 18-year-old, but played only three games and was a healthy scratch for five more before being returned to the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires.
The Canadiens don’t have a good track record when it comes to developing and keeping young, offensive-minded defencemen. P.K. Subban and former coach Michel Therrien never saw eye to eye and Subban ended up in Nashville. Beaulieu, selected 17th overall in 2011, always played like he was afraid to make mistakes. Now it appears to be Mete’s turn and it was refreshing to hear him say the Canadiens coaching staff hasn’t put a leash on him offensively.
At least not yet.
It will indeed be interesting to see if Mete can keep it up if he’s on the Canadiens’ final 23-man roster, which must be determined by 5 p.m. Tuesday. His performance early in the season could play a role in what Bergevin decides to do with the almost $8.5 million he still has in salary cap space.
Mete was asked if he will be able to sleep before the final cuts are announced.
“I think so,” he said. “I think I gave it my all to do whatever I can and whatever happens happens.”