HABS HOPEFULS
Four-day camp in Brossard
Canadiens fans can get their first look at No. 3 overall draft pick Jesperi Kotkaniemi this week when 40 prospects descend on the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard for a four-day development camp.
The players will undergo physical exams and fitness testing behind closed doors on Thursday and hit the ice for public consumption Friday.
The invited players are a mix of drafted players from previous years, undrafted players who were invited for tryout and nine of the 11 players the Canadiens drafted this past weekend in Dallas.
The players who will attract the most attention will likely be Kotkaniemi and Ryan Poehling, who was the Canadiens’ first-round selection in 2017. They are projected to be the Canadiens’ centres in the near future, although neither is likely to be in the lineup next fall. Poehling has decided to return to St. Cloud State University in Minnesota for junior year while assistant general manager Trevor Timmins has said Kotkaniemi will likely return to the Assat Pori in the Finnish Liiga for more seasoning.
One of this year’s draftees who will not be on hand is defenceman Alexander Romanov. The Canadiens went off the board to select Romanov with the 38th overall in the second round. Most analysts predicted that he would go in the fifth round or later. It will be a while before fans in North America see Romanov because he has two years remaining on his KHL contract with CSKA Moscow.
Poehling is one of a handful of U.S. college players invited to the camp. While the NCAA rules don’t allow prospective college players to attend a major junior training camp for more than 48 hours, players can attend NHL development camps, although they are required to cover their own expenses.
While Poehling is the best of the collegians, Montreal has a sleeper in goaltender Cayden Primeau, who was drafted in the seventh round last June. The son of former NHLer Keith Primeau had an outstanding freshman season at Boston’s Northeastern University with a 1.92 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage.
Goaltender Hayden Hawkey’s rights were traded to Edmonton on the weekend for a fifth-round draft choice in 2019, but the Canadiens extended an invitation to his backup at Providence College, Gabriel Mollot-Hill. The Ottawa native appeared in five games with a. 1.21 GAA and a .931 save percentage.
One of the older players in camp will be 23-year-old right winger Vladimir Bryukvin, who played for the Rimouski Oceanic in 2012-13. He has spent the past four seasons playing with Moscow Dynamo in the KHL. The last time he was seen in these parts, he was a beanpole who carried 158 pounds on a 6-foot frame, but he has filled out to 190 pounds.
Bryukvin is on a tryout, but there are two other European veterans who have already signed contracts. Michal Moravcik and David Sklenicka are both left-shooting defencemen from Plzen in the Czech League. They also represented Czech in the world championships this year.
The players will be on the ice for drills and testing at 11 a.m. Friday morning and there will be a onehour scrimmage in the afternoon at 5 p.m. On Saturday, there will be skating and other drills, beginning at 10 a.m. with a scrimmage at 4 p.m. There were will be a final scrimmage Sunday morning at 9:30.